Flying A Suicide Drone From The Back Of A Marine Corps UH-1 Helicopter

Marine Corps Capt. Michael Ayala was sitting in the back of a hovering UH-1Y Venom off the southern California coast in May, looking at the screen of a laptop. The image showed a drone-eye view of a Hero 400 loitering munition on its way to a pre-planned rendezvous with the helicopter.

Ayala gave the pilots in the cockpit a clock bearing to the loitering munition, which was acquired by onboard sensors before it was visible to the naked eye at about four kilometers out. Using a laptop-based control system, Ayala took control of the cruciform-style armed drone and prepared to engage a series of targets laid out in the Southern California Range complex south of San Clemente Island.