USMC receives its final MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 ER UAV
Peter Felstead
The US Marine Corps (USMC) has received its final MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 Extended Range (ER) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) Gray Butte flight operations facility in California, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) reported on 5 June 2025.
The delivery marked the successful completion of a three-year acquisition campaign that has so far fielded 18 MQ-9As, with two more now on the way.
The USMC began operating two MQ-9A Reaper Block 5s in 2018 under a company owned/company operated (COCO) lease agreement, but these were transferred to the service in 2021. The first eight MQ-9A ERs were ordered in May 2022.
“This program has been a model of how to do things right,” said Captain Dennis Monagle, programme 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.”
The programme team continues to integrate advanced capabilities onto the MQ-9A, with the SkyTower II airborne network extension pod on track to achieve initial operational capability (IOC) later in 2025. The system will expand the USMC’s 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 UAV designed to support a variety of missions, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and maritime domain awareness.
“The Marine Corps’ adaptation of the system represents a leap in expeditionary capability, enabling operations across contested and distributed environments,” NAVAIR stated.
PMA-266 oversees the MQ-9 Marine Air-Ground Task Force UAV, Expeditionary Family of Systems and is also responsible for emerging Group 4 and Group 5 vertical lift UAVs.
