Long-Range ISR for Indo-Pacific Command AOR

The US Marine Corps has received the first of the eight MQ-9 Reaper UAS delivered under a joint procurement programme with the US Air Force, according to a 10 May statement from the US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD.

The Navy’s Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Air System programme team (PMA-266) at Pax River leveraged USAF’s Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution (ARES) IDIQ contract to procure USAF MQ-9 Reaper aircraft, associated spares, and support equipment for the Marine Corps. The Air Force has enabled the Marine Corps to move rapidly, in standing up the Medium Altitude Long Endurance portion of the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Uncrewed Expeditionary (MUX) family of systems, a key component of Marine Corps Force Design 2030

“The US Air Force has been a great partner and a major enabler in the Marine Corps’ pursuit to acquire group 5 UAS,” commented Lt Col Leigh Irwin, Marine Corps MQ-9 programme director for PMA-266. “Group 5 UAS will give the Marines the ability to conduct ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] and network extensions in support of the MAGTF in support of stand-in forces and the Joint Force”.

The MQ-9 Reaper, developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is filling an immediate need for a long-range, long-endurance, land-based Group 5 UAS to conduct ISR and data relay in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. Currently, the Marine Corps has two operational MQ-9As to support a wide range of operations such as coastal and border surveillance, weapons tracking, embargo enforcement, humanitarian assistance /disaster relief, peacekeeping and counter-narcotic operations.