L-MADIS counter-drone system reaches 1st LAAD Battalion in Hawaii, with 15 systems delivered in six months

The U.S. Marine Corps has delivered its Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System, known as L-MADIS, to 1st Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) Battalion at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, an official Marine Corps acquisition account published on DVIDS says. The fielding took place the week of 14 September 2026 and was paired with new equipment training run by the Program Manager for Ground Based Air Defense (PM GBAD).

It was the first time the Hawaii-based battalion received the system, which is designed to counter small drones for Marine units operating in expeditionary conditions.

What the system does

According to the account, L-MADIS is a “system of systems” that senses what is happening around the areas a Marine air-ground task force commander considers most important. It is described as providing on-the-move short-range detection, tracking and identification of small unmanned aircraft, as well as fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, and radio-frequency defeat of those threats. The programme dates to 2019, when Marines sought better expeditionary capability, and has since become an operational programme of record, the account says.

Training and pace of delivery

The training began in August and ran into September, ending with delivery of the systems. Marines started in a classroom with subject-matter experts and logisticians before moving to employing the system in the field. Written feedback from the course is collected and passed to working groups, and a package of lessons from the Marines follows the system into fielding.

Corporal Zachary Buschermohle, a section leader in 2nd Platoon, 1st LAAD, said his knowledge by the end of the course was “tremendously different” from when he started. Some of the unit was already familiar with similar systems such as the FIM-92 Stinger missile, the account notes, but L-MADIS offers a different approach to air defence.

PM GBAD says it delivered 15 systems over six months, finishing the fiscal year. Maj. Ryan Aukerman, the programme’s team lead for L-MADIS, called that speed “the new standard”.

What comes next

The programme plans to complete fielding over roughly the next six months during fiscal year 2027, with full operational capability described as in sight. Planned work includes further integration, testing and validation, and an additional sensor suite, with engineering change proposals adding capability based on feedback from Marines.

The development fits a wider push by militaries to field cheaper counter-drone tools as small unmanned aircraft proliferate. Geopolitiki has covered one such effort on the interceptor side: APKWS: Pentagon and BAE Systems sign a framework agreement for up to 25,000 kits a year against drones. The L-MADIS account is an official programme description and does not give performance figures or cost.