On December 12, 2025, the 1st Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion (LAAD), Marine Air Control Group 18, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing has received the first pair of Full-Rate Production Marine Air Defense Integrated Systems (MADIS).
Each MADIS system comprises a couple of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) fitted with different and complementary sensors, weapons and electronic warfare to ensure the defeat of air threats at low altitude, with a heavy emphasis on drones.
The 1st LAAD has been re-activated in 2023 in the Hawaii and has since stood up 2 firing batteries, Alpha (in August 2024) and Mike (December 2025). The unit has been closely involved in experimenting the force design changes part of the rolling modernisation for the Corps.
This is an important milestone for the MADIS project but of course is far from the beginning of the fielding of this mobile air defence capability. MADIS initially came to be in FY 2020 with the procurement of Government Furnished Counter-UAS (C-UAS) and air defense equipment and integration by a government warfare center, onto 2 JLTVs.
The MADIS Increment 1 system is composed by a Mk 1 and a Mk 2 vehicles operating as a pair. The Mk 1 is armed with a XM914E1 30x113 mm gun, 2 STINGER missiles and a non-kinetic electronic warfare system. The Mk 2 carries radar and additional non-kinetic C-UAS defeat electronic warfare, plus a Remote Weapon Station armed with an M134 minigun (7.62x51 mm).
Numerous MADIS Increment 1 have been procured since: 20 in the early years of the project, followed by orders for 13 more in FY 2024, 13 in FY 2025 and 10 requested in the FY 2026 budget. All of these are intended as systems of 2 vehicles each.
The FY 2026 budget also procures materials and integration effort to install enhanced capabilities known collectively as “Block 2”. Block 2 capabilities will retrofitted onto the Low Rate Initial Production systems from FY 2020 and integrated onto Full Rate Production (FRP) systems ordered in FY 2023, FY 2024, and FY 2025 and now beginning to be delivered.
As of 2025, the Acquisition Objective for MADIS was 190 systems, with Full Operational Capability in FY 2031 with 12 fielded batteries.
MADIS also has a lightweight counterpart, L-MADIS, using Polaris MRZR 4x4 buggies for higher mobility, including via air transport inside V-22 OSPREY tilt-rotors and/or Sikorsky H-53 helicopters. 21 L-MADIS pairs are planned, with 3 being Depot Maintenance Float Allowance and 6 assigned to each LAAD. L-MADIS uses RPS-42 radar and CACI AVT CM262 electro-optical and infrared sensor supporting an SNC Modi 2 non-kinetic, electronic C-UAS defeat system.
It should be noted that the Marine Corps is participating in the US Army Next Generation Short Range Interceptor efforts which will replace the aging Stinger missile. The Army is conducting a competitive prototyping effort and expects to introduce the capability in FY29.
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