Imagine a ‘swarm’ of small drones flying in formation leading the advance into enemy territory doing surveillance and hindering hostile forces before the ground troops arrive. This is exactly what the US Marine Corps envisions with the Low-Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarming Technology also known as LOCUST.

Watch LOCUST in action! (This is so cool!)

Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, the service’s commanding general for combat development, on Tuesday detailed the plan, with hopes it would not only slow down the enemy but save Marines’ lives.

“Today, we see this manned-unmanned airlift, what we see what the other services are doing, along with our partners in the United States Navy. Whether it’s on the surface, under the surface or in the air, we’re looking for the opportunity for, ‘How will Marines move ashore differently in the future?’ ” Walsh told a crowd at the Unmanned Systems Defense Conference outside Washington, D.C., hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

“Instead of Marines being the first wave in, it’ll be unmanned robotics … sensing, locating and maybe killing out front of those Marines,” he said. “We see that ‘swarm-type’ technology as exactly the type of thing — it will lower cost, dominate the battlespace, leverage capabilities … and be able to complicate the problems for the enemy.” – DefenseTech

The LOCUST system is being developed and tested by the Office of Naval Research. Each drone costs about $15,000 and basically fly themselves. A human does monitor the formation but once launched the swarm operates autonomously as a group.

Manufacturer by Raytheon, the Coyote aircraft weigh between 12-14 pounds each and can be launch in rapid succession.

Featured image of LOCUST swarm drones by Youtube video screen capture