US Marine Corps awards contract for L-MADIS autonomous weapon

Allen Control Systems conducts an operational assessment of Bullfrog v2.5 for the US Army. The demonstration took place in an undisclosed location. (US Army)

Autonomous turret maker Allen Control Systems has won an Other Transaction Authority for an undisclosed amount to provide its technology for the US Marine Corps' Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (L-MADIS) programme, according to a 20 July statement.

L-MADIS — which is based on an Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicle (ULTV) — is a short-range air defence capability that has electronic warfare capabilities in addition to kinetic weapons. The Allen Control System Bullfrog is a turret system that uses artificial intelligence and on L-MADIS will help “counter the growing threat of low-cost weaponized drones”, according to the company's statement.

Bullfrog comes in four variants: the M240 configuration with a 7.62 mm machine gun (MG), the M2 variant with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun (HMG), the M230 variant with a 30 mm automatic cannon, and the M134 variant with a 7.62 mm six‐barrelled Gatling‐type gun.

It is unclear which variant is being integrated into L-MADIS. The company did not answer questions from Janes by time of publication.

The maximum effective range for the product is 800 m, and it can fire 850 rounds per minute, according to the company's website.

Allen Control Systems also won a contract worth USD1.5 million to develop two initial US Army ground combat vehicles with the M240 variant. The contract — which contained an option for additional combat vehicle integration — was awarded in October 2025, the company told Janes last year.

The system has already been deployed with the US Army and Navy, according to the company's statement.