U.S. Marine Corps receives 1st MQ-9 Reaper
NewsMay 15, 2023
PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland. The U.S. Marine Corps recently took delivery of the first of eight MQ-9 Reapers under a joint contract with the U.S. Air Force, according to Naval Air Systems Command.
This procurement was executed by the Navy’s Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Air System program team (PMA-266) at Pax River, leveraging the U.S. Air Force’s Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution (ARES). The contract includes MQ-9 Reaper aircraft, associated spare parts, and support equipment for the Marine Corps, NAVAIR states.
The acquisition supports the expansion of the Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) component of the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Expeditionary (MUX) family of systems, crucial to the Marine Corps Force Design 2030, the statement adds.
The drone will be used by Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU)-1 in Yuma for operational missions overseas, filling a requirement for a long-range, long-endurance, land-based Group 5 UAS to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and data relay in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility, NAVAIR says.
