A Concept of Operations for Advanced Manufacturing of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Marine Squads

A concept of operations (CONOPS) is proposed for providing U.S. Marine Corps squads with mission-tailored small unmanned aerial systems (SUASs) using additive manufacturing. This is done on a tactically relevant timescale, ensuring that design improvements can be fielded far faster than with a traditional acquisition process. The CONOPS includes the following stages: mission planning and UAS selection/allocation/modification, order production and transmission, additive manufacturing, assembly and quality control, packaging and delivery, field assembly, field training and guidance, pre-mission checks, and mission use. The stages were developed through extensive discussions and interviews with Marine end users and iterated through several rounds of realistic wargaming. A comprehensive one-week training session was created that equipped Marines to demonstrate all design, manufacturing, and operational skills outlined in the CONOPS.