Price of Rogue 1 Strike Drones for U.S. Marines Falls to ‘Only’ $70,000

The U.S. Marine Corps has signed a new contract to purchase Rogue 1 attack drones, ground stations, and related services. Compared to the initial procurements, the drones have become roughly 25% cheaper – now costing ‘only’ $70.8 thousand each.

The new contract was announced by the manufacturer, Teledyne FLIR Defense.

Teledyne FLIR Defense, a division of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, stated that it has received a $42.5 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps for the third order under the Organic Precision Fires–Light (OPF-L) program.

The Organic Precision Fires–Light is a program designed to provide Marine Corps squads and platoons with a portable, man-packable, organic loitering, high-precision strike capability to engage the enemy beyond line of sight.

The company will supply more than 600 of its Rogue 1 loitering munitions, as well as ground control stations and training kits to equip Marine Corps units. As a result, the cost of obtaining one drone comes out to $70.8 thousand.

Meanwhile, the first order for the delivery of 127 drones under the OPF-L program for the U.S. Marine Corps, placed in May 2024, was valued at $12 million or about $94,000 per unit.

Organic Precision Fires-Light is a program designed to provide Marine Corps platoons and squads with a portable, transportable, organic, loitering, high-precision strike capability to engage targets beyond line of sight.

Rogue 1

Rogue 1 strike drones are 4.5-kilogram quadcopter-type kamikaze drones developed by Teledyne FLIR Defense. The unmanned system can return and be relaunched, and it features interchangeable batteries and warheads.

The strike drone has a flight range of ‘over’ 10 kilometers and can stay airborne for 30 minutes. Its maximum speed reaches 110 km/h.

The manufacturer states that the new drone is capable of operating in environments where enemy electronic warfare systems are active. To deliver precise strikes under such conditions, the drone is equipped with a target-acquisition system based on machine-vision technology.

The drones are fitted with the FLIR Boson 640+ thermal imaging optical system, which enables them to operate in any weather conditions and at any time of day.

Operators can swap out modular warheads tailored for specific missions. The manufacturer offers a choice of a shaped-charge warhead, a fragmentation warhead with directional action and remote detonation, and a training warhead.