Photo By Lance Cpl. Justin Bowles | Marines with 1st Marine Division repair an unmanned aerial vehicle after a flight...... read more read more
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Marines with 1st Marine Division built unmanned aerial vehicles as part of a three-day workshop at Camp Pendleton, Calif., June 15, 2017.
The training program had multiple phases consisting of an assembly phase, a basic flight day and a final flight day.
“The first day was overwhelming,” said Lance Cpl. Tyler Cochran, a rifleman with Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. “The instructors gave us this box, dumped it out and little pieces of wire circuits and hardware just went everywhere. We inventoried everything and then went straight into building it. One Marine read the step-by-step instructions while the rest of us put it together.”
The Marines built, The Nibbler, a four- rotor UAV with a 20-minute flight time capable of looking over hills and around buildings providing an intelligence advantage over the enemy, said Capt. Matthew D. Friedell, additive manufacturing team lead at U.S. Marine Corps Forces Systems Command.
According to Cochran, the first flight was about making sure the UAV can get off the ground. Marines then equipped and sent the UAVs on their way after a quick pre-flight inspection to ensure the quadcopters were mission ready.
This is what may enable Marines to stay ahead of near-peer competitors with the same UAV abilities, said Friedell, a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Knowing how to operate and assemble drones is another capability Marines can add to their warfighting toolbox.
| Date Taken: | 06.23.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.23.2017 18:17 |
| Story ID: | 239020 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 164 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Grunts Build Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, by LCpl Justin Bowles, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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