{"id":149798,"date":"2024-04-15T14:59:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T14:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=149798"},"modified":"2024-04-16T18:07:55","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T18:07:55","slug":"building-the-eye-in-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=149798","title":{"rendered":"Building the eye in the sky"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NC, UNITED STATES — <\/span><\/p>\n

Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Training Squadron\u00a02, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, began the assembly of 2nd MAW\u2019s first MQ-9A Reaper, April 10, as part of the U.S. Marine Corps\u2019 continued transition from the legacy RQ-21A Blackjack in accordance with Force Design initiatives.\u202f<\/p>\n

\u201cThe delivery and build of VMUT-2\u2019s first MQ-9A aircraft is yet another successful milestone in the transition of VMUT-2 to become the MQ-9A Fleet Replacement Squadron, responsible for the world-class training of the Marine Corps\u2019 MQ-9A pilots and sensor operators,\u201d said Lt. Col. Michael Donlin, commanding officer of VMUT-2.<\/p>\n

Many of the parts for the aircraft were delivered to VMUT-2, known as the \u201cNight owls,\u201d aboard Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, from General Atomics in March, making\u202f2nd MAW the third and final MAW to receive the aircraft. Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 1, 3rd MAW, procured the first MQ-9A Reaper for the Marine Corps in August 2021, and VMU-3, 1st MAW, was the first VMU to achieve initial operational capability with the MQ-9A platform in August 2023.<\/p>\n

“The delivery and build of VMUT-2\u2019s first MQ-9A aircraft is yet another successful milestone in the transition of VMUT-2 to become the MQ-9A Fleet Replacement Squadron, responsible for the world-class training of the Marine Corps\u2019 MQ-9A pilots and sensor operators” Lt. Col. Michael Donlin, commanding officer of VMUT-2<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The MQ-9A Extended Range Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Expeditionary (MUX) Medium-Altitude, High-Endurance (MALE) aircraft is a medium-altitude, long-endurance Block 5 remotely piloted aircraft, enabling future Marine Corps, naval, and joint force operating concepts by providing multisensor surveillance and reconnaissance; data gateway and relay capabilities through an aerial layer; and enabling or conducting the detection and engagement of targets during expeditionary, joint, and combined operations. The aircraft will provide intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting as well as performing additional missions such as: maritime domain awareness, airborne network extension, airborne early warning, and electronic support.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

With a range of more than 1,600 miles and the ability to operate for more than 20 hours, the unmanned aircraft is designed to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of 2nd MAW and wider Marine Expeditionary Force missions. This extended range is possible through the Marine Corps\u2019 addition of external fuel tanks to the aircraft that are capable of holding 1,300 pounds of fuel.<\/p>\n

These capabilities will allow the MQ-9A Reaper to support future Marine Corps operating concepts, such as distributed maritime operations, littoral operations in a contested environment, and expeditionary advanced base operations as part of Force Design initiatives. The capabilities that the MQ-9A Reaper will provide represent an enhancement to 2nd MAW\u2019s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and data and communications network capabilities. The arrival and assembly of this aircraft represents a milestone in 2nd MAW unmanned aircraft systems\u2019 support for future operating concepts and represents an additional milestone in VMUT-2\u2019s continued transition from the RQ-21A Blackjack platform that served as 2nd MAW\u2019s primary unmanned aircraft system until July 2023.\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ability to rapidly and safely build these aircraft sets the stage for flight operations in the near future and is a testament to the hard work of the \u2018Night owl\u2019 maintenance department and the program office over the last ten months,\u201d said Donlin. “‘Night owls’ don\u2019t quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NC, UNITED STATES — Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Training Squadron\u00a02, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, began the assembly of 2nd MAW\u2019s first MQ-9A Reaper, April 10, as part of the U.S. Marine Corps\u2019 continued transition from the legacy RQ-21A Blackjack in accordance with Force Design initiatives.\u202f \u201cThe delivery and build […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":149800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149798"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149801,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149798\/revisions\/149801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/149800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}