Marine Corps Tests Helicopter Control of Ground-Launched FPV Drone

U.S. Marine Corps tested the transfer of control of a first-person-view drone from ground operators to a helicopter crew during an exercise in Southern California. Marines launched a Neros Archer FPV drone from the ground and then handed control to operators aboard a UH-1Y Venom helicopter flying several miles away, the Corps stated last week.

The primary objective was to test the feasibility of a non-kinetic drop and deployment of a first-person view drone from a moving helicopter, which we were able to do today, Capt. Quinton Thornbury, a UH-1Y Venom pilot with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, said.

From there, validate that we can control the maneuver of that drone from the back of the aircraft, Thornbury added. The service selected the Neros Archer system because Marine infantry units have already used and tested it extensively.

Low-cost drones have become one of the defining weapons of today’s warfare, with widespread use in conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East, the Corps noted. The service recently announced it had fielded more than 3,500 FPV attack drones after approving integration of the technology.