TOWNSVILLE, Australia— U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 26 used multiple organic drone assets for the first time to enhance logistical reach and lethality during exercise Predators Run 26, July 20-27, 2026. The exercise took place across the austere, rolling hills of the Townsville Field Training Area in Queensland.
On July 23, Marines with the logistics combat element of the MRF-D 26 Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force transported temperature-controlled simulated blood using a tactical resupply unmanned aircraft system, or TRUAS. Working alongside medical personnel from the Australian Army's 2nd Health Brigade, they attached refrigerated blood to the TRUAS and flew it more than two kilometers to the task force's primary medical facility, highlighting the interchangeability between the Marines and the Australian Army.
"The blood resupply is just one example of how the TRUAS has expanded our logistical reach and capability across distributed operations," said Capt. Hope Islas, commander of Combat Logistics Company Bravo, CLB-5, MRF-D 26. "The ease of the drone was even further demonstrated through our interoperability alongside 1st Brigade to seamlessly accomplish this blood transfer."
Following the successful blood transfer, the task force employed its first-person-view attack drone during a simulated live-fire platoon attack. The drone team quickly set up and launched two FPV drones, resulting in two successive strikes on simulated, static armored personnel carriers.
"These small one-way attack drones are not only able to provide reconnaissance but also provide us a great long-range precision fires capabilities," said 1st Lt. Phuong Tran, the drone team's officer in charge. "The FPV drone is just another asset to put in the hands of our Marines to help them dominate the battlespace."
Exercise Predator’s Run 26 is a trilateral training event integrating forces from MRF-D 26, the Australian Army's 1st Brigade, 1st Division, and the Philippine Army's 1st Brigade Combat Team, designed to enhance the combat readiness of regional allies through interoperability.