The U.S. Marine Corps received its final MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 Extended Range (ER) Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) Gray Butte flight operations facility in California in June 2025, marking the successful completion of a three-year acquisition campaign.
With 18 MQ-9As field to date, and now two more on the way, this final delivery represents a major milestone for Marine Corps aviation and reflects the effective collaboration between industry partners and the U.S. Air Force.
“This program has been a model of how to do things right,” said Capt. Dennis Monagle, program manager for Multi-Mission Tactical UAS (PMA-266), whose office managed the acquisition effort. “We leveraged a strong relationship with industry and the Air Force to move quickly, stay on schedule, and deliver advanced capability to the fleet with minimal friction. It’s been a very smooth process, proof that when the right teams align, we can move at the speed the Marines need.”
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Download free sample pages More informationThe program team continues to integrate advanced capabilities onto the platform with the upgraded MQ-9A with the SkyTower II airborne network extension pod on track to achieve Initial Operational Capability (IOC) later this year. The system will expand the Corps’ long-range mission in support of Force Design 2030 priorities and distributed maritime operations.
The MQ-9A is a multi-role, medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS designed to support a variety of missions including ISR and maritime domain awareness. The Marine Corps’ adaptation of the system represents a leap in expeditionary capability, enabling operations across contested and distributed environments.
PMA-266 oversees the MQ-9 Marine Air-Ground Task Force UAS, Expeditionary Family of Systems and is also responsible for emerging group 4 an 5 vertical lift platforms.
