MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Marines with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, employed the Bolt-M autonomous air vehicle during an Organic Precision Fire live-fire event at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Aug. 28. The training provided Marines an opportunity to employ and integrate an emerging Organic Precision Fires-Light capability designed to place precision-strike capabilities at the company level ahead of the MEU’s upcoming deployment.
OPF-L provides infantry formations with a portable loitering munition capability that combines reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition with precision strike. Traditionally, infantry battalions have relied on organic mortars for responsive fires within their effective range and supporting assets, such as artillery and aviation, to engage targets beyond that reach. OPF-L provides another option between those capabilities, allowing Marines at lower tactical echelons to identify and engage targets while reducing reliance on higher-echelon supporting fires.
“The integration of Organic Precision Fires-Light at the infantry battalion and small-unit echelon fundamentally transforms tactical ground combat,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Adam, Adam, the 26th MEU Gunner. “This decentralization compresses the sensor-to-shooter loop, protects maneuver tempo, and expands the tactical decision space for ground force commanders operating in distributed environments.” By placing reconnaissance and precision-strike capabilities within the same organic workflow, Marines can shorten the process between identifying a target and delivering an effect while providing commanders additional options to maintain momentum during distributed operations.
The live-fire event allowed Marines to move beyond individual system familiarization and focus on the operational employment of OPF-L within BLT 1/8 and the 26th MEU. Incorporating the capability during the MEU’s predeployment workup gives Marines an opportunity to refine tactics, techniques and procedures while determining how organic precision fires can complement existing fires and maneuver capabilities. The training also allows Marines to identify lessons that can inform the continued integration and employment of OPF-L throughout the force. The integration of OPF-L into the 26th MEU reflects the Marine Corps’ broader modernization effort to provide Marines at the company level with emerging capabilities that increase their options and lethality.
“Organic Precision Fires is an additive capability nested under Force Design that layers precision effects from squad through battalion, allowing tactical units to engage beyond the range of traditional weapons while reducing exposure,” said Col. Benjamin Harrison, Fires, Maneuver and Protection Capability Portfolio Manager at Combat Development and Integration. “OPF-L turns our infantry squads and platoons into more lethal, self-contained combined-arms elements capable of generating greater mass and tempo at the tactical edge.” As the 26th MEU continues its predeployment training, employing OPF-L allows Marines to refine the integration of emerging technology and prepare the capability for operational use during the MEU’s upcoming deployment.
The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, coupled with the USS Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, provides geographic combatant commanders with a flexible, sea-based naval expeditionary force capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, maritime interdiction and contingency response operations. The integrated ARG/MEU team combines maritime mobility with aviation, ground combat, logistics and command-and-control capabilities across a range of military operations, in any clime and place.