U.S. Marines and service members from Australia and United Kingdom participated in a kill web demonstration on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, May 3, 2024. The trilateral defense and security partnership, also known as AUKUS, amongst the three allies displayed their shared commitment to strengthen deterrence capabilities and promote peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. During a combat training scenario, Marines with Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, Australian and United Kingdom service members, and contractors with AeroVironment, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer, worked to search, locate and destroy mock enemy tanks, using two inert Switchblade 600 munitions. Switchblade 600 munitions are direct fire loitering munitions systems that rely on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) provided by UAVs. Troops in command operations centers use ISR to detect enemy forces ahead of troops on the ground. Once enemy tanks are detected, rear troops will launch the Switchblade 600 and it will loiter until a forward Marine directs it to the target for a strike. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Michael T. Bartman)

U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Steven Atkinson, head of the Robotics and Autonomy branch for the Science and Technology Division of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, speaks on the impacts of collaboration with partner nations and artificial intelligence after a kill web demonstration aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, May 3, 2024. Atkinson was interviewed as a subject matter expert on the exercise’s operation and robotics and autonomy. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Michael T. Bartman)

Darren J Sutton, the minister-counsellor at the Defence Science and Technology Group for the Australian Department of Defense speaks on modern warfighting technology and artificial intelligence after a kill web demonstration aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, May 3, 2024. Sutton was interviewed as a subject matter expert to provide the scientific perspective of the kill web demonstration. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Michael T. Bartman)