USMC buys two previously leased Reapers
USMC MQ-9A, pictured in March 2021 at an undisclosed location in the CENTCOM area of responsibility. (Photo: USMC)
Marine Corps used a ‘try before you buy’ approach with a pair of MQ-9A Reapers.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) completed the transfer of two MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 UAS plus associated support equipment and ground control stations to the USMC on 15 October 2021, the company announced on 20 October.
Both aircraft were operated by the USMC since 2018 under a contractor-owned/contractor-operated (COCO) lease agreement to meet a UOR. They have accrued more than 12,000 flight hours in operations over the Middle East.
From April 2020, the two COCO MQ-9As were flown in remote split operations from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma under a lease agreement between GA-ASI and Naval Air Systems Command.
The Reapers represent the first increment of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) UAS Expeditionary Program of Record (MUX POR).
The MUX POR will include an additional 16 new MQ-9As, which the USMC will begin procuring in 2022 to support an early operational capability in 2023 and IOC for US Indo-Pacific Command by 2025.
GA ASI president David Alexander said the leasing arrangement was ‘a great example of how a customer can “try before you buy” our aircraft’.
As a result, he added, the USMC has ‘seen firsthand how a persistent ISR platform, like the MQ-9A, can support the Marine Corps’ need for long-range sensing in the Pacific as a part of the Commandant’s Force Design Initiative’.
Related Programmes in Defence Insight
Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Expeditionary (MUX) (Increment 1) [USMC]
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Air Warfare
-
![Dubai Airshow 2025: Embraer explores new systems and CUAS missions for Super Tucano]()
Dubai Airshow 2025: Embraer explores new systems and CUAS missions for Super Tucano
Embraer foresees high demand for its A-29 Super Tucano over the next two decades, with discussions about adding newer systems to the aircraft already underway.
-
![Russian fighter jet exportability threatened by sanctions, says think tank]()
Russian fighter jet exportability threatened by sanctions, says think tank
The think tank realised its report just days before the Dubai Airshow, where the Su-57E Russian fighter jet and Yak-130M trainer and light attack aircraft will make their Middle Eastern debuts.
-
![UAE: Domestic industries set to dominate the country’s $5.24 billion UAV market]()
UAE: Domestic industries set to dominate the country’s $5.24 billion UAV market
The UAE is the second-highest spender on uncrewed aerial vehicles in the Middle East and the 15th-highest spender on the capability globally.
-
![Raytheon, Lockheed sign with Avio to meet solid rocket motor production demand]()
Raytheon, Lockheed sign with Avio to meet solid rocket motor production demand
Avio’s newly planned rocket motor plant in the US will help two of the country’s primes to increase their solid rocket motor output for their missile portfolios and meet future demand.
