They're actually doing it. 3rd LAR is playing with UAVs!

U.S. Marines with 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, prepare an AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven unmanned aircraft system for aerial surveillance during a Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation (MCCRE) at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., March 13, 2018. MCCREs ensure unit standardization and combat readiness in preparation for operational deployments. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Miguel A. Rosales)

I was skeptical at first but they're persisting and I'm coming around.  3rd LAR is playing with UAVs and I like it.  While I still think a decent mast would be more useful over the long run, I can still see the utility in this.

My main problem?

I really see the days of "small" UAVs coming to an end.  The future belongs to either big high performance models or micro UAVs that will be difficult to detect.

Still not convinced that micro UAVs will be useful in the near term so that leaves big high performance models to survive and thrive on the modern ultra high tech battlefield.

Still HQMC is to be lauded for this effort but I'd still like to see a REAL experiment conducted to see how the Raven UAV will perform on a battlefield against our peers.