U.S. Marines with the 12th Littoral Combat Team demonstrated the deployment of the Stalker VXE30 reconnaissance drone during Resolute Dragon 25, a bilateral military exercise held on September 14, 2025, at the Hijudai Maneuver Area in Japan’s Oita Prefecture.
The Stalker VXE30, manufactured by Edge Autonomy, is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) small unmanned aerial system (SUAS) designed for extended endurance and flexible deployment.
The Marine Corps showcased the system as part of its ongoing cooperation with the Japan Self-Defense Forces under the annual Resolute Dragon training event.
According to Edge Autonomy, the VXE30 was developed to improve mission effectiveness in diverse environments. The system offers extended service life, multiple payload configuration options, and enhanced landing precision. It is engineered to operate with either a battery or propane fuel cell and features a communications range of up to 100 miles.
Resolute Dragon 25 focuses on enhancing command and control and multi-domain maneuver capabilities between the U.S. Marine Corps and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. This year’s exercise emphasizes the ability to control and defend key maritime terrain, a core mission set for the III Marine Expeditionary Force and its Japan-based units.
The Stalker VXE30 drone brings several operational advantages to forward-deployed forces. The platform weighs 42.5 pounds when powered by battery and slightly less when using a fuel cell. It can remain airborne for up to four hours on battery power and up to eight hours using its hybrid fuel cell system.
With a wingspan of 16 feet and a maximum dash speed of 58 miles per hour, the VXE30 can operate at altitudes ranging from 300 feet above ground to up to 12,000 feet in density altitude, depending on mission requirements.
Edge Autonomy says the VXE30 was designed to combine the mobility of a man-portable system with the endurance and payload performance more commonly found in larger UAV platforms. The system also includes automatic centralized tire inflation, dual-redundant batteries, and VTOL launch and recovery, which reduces the need for external equipment in austere or improvised operating environments.
During the demonstration, the drone was operated by Marines from the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, part of the 3rd Marine Division. This unit has been central to the Marine Corps’ modernization efforts, particularly in adapting to Indo-Pacific scenarios that require distributed operations and rapid sensor deployment across contested maritime zones.