25 April 2020: In a milestone achievement the first flight operation of MQ-9A Reaper Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) was recently carried out by the US Marine Corps (USMC) pilots and sensor operators from Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 in the Middle East.
The MQ-9A UAS is produced by the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and has provided crucial support to USMC's forward operations on the battlefield.
"This achievement represents a unique milestone and example of the Marine Corps' legacy of innovation," said David R. Alexander, president, GA-ASI. "As a partner with the Marine Corps, we look forward to expanding the role of Medium-altitude, Long-endurance (MALE) UAS in support of maritime littoral missions."
With the oversight of the GA-ASI team, the VMU-1 "Watchdog" crews took control of a Company Owned/Company Operated (COCO) MQ-9A supporting forward deployed Marines. This USMC achievement comes shortly after surpassing 7,000 hours of COCO flight operations since September 2018.
VMU-1 fulfil its urgent needs request for persistent Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) in Afghanistan by leasing the MQ-9A. GA-ASI has been working with VMU-1 as the USMC transitions its COCO MQ-9A contract to a Government Owned/Government Operated (GOGO) contract in the coming year.
The GOGO capability fulfils the Commandant's directive for USMC Group 5 persistent ISR capability with strike. VMU-1 will be the test bed and incubator to provide crucial information, lessons learned requirements, tactics, techniques, and procedures that will aid in the USMC efforts for the successful acquisition and fielding of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Expeditionary (MUX) Group 5 capability.