The U.S. Marine Corps’ (USMC) Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 (VMU-1) has spent the last year completing a series of firsts thanks in large part to its use of GA-ASI's MQ-9A Reaper UAS. 

The winner of the 2018 Marine Corps Aviation Association Unmanned Aircraft Squadron of the Year, VMU-1 relied heavily the MQ-9A Reaper UAS to complete many of its accomplishments. Over a 12 month period, the UAS has flown more than 4,800 flight hours of direct support reconnaissance. 

Equipped with multi-sensor reconnaissance, the MQ-9A provided USMC’s forward operations critical support on the battlefield, while also serving as a proof of concept for the Deputy Commandant’s Marine Aviation Plan.

This initiative is building the Marine Corps’ Group 5 UAS community, and is helping inform the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) UAS Expeditionary (MUX) program, while also meeting the 38th Commandant’s Planning Guidance to expand unmanned capabilities.

VMU-1 has been using leased MQ-9A Reaper aircraft since Sept. 2018 to fulfill an “urgent needs request” for persistent Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) in the Afghanistan theater.

“We congratulate the Officers and Marines of VMU-1 for their superb performance this year, winning the John I. Hudson Award as the Marine Unmanned Aircraft Squadron of the Year,” says David R Alexander, president, GA-ASI.

“GA-ASI looks forward to working with VMU-1 as the USMC transitions its Company Owned/Company Operated (COCO) MQ-9A contract to a Government Owned/Government Operated (GOGO) contract in the coming year.”

According to GA-ASI, the GOGO capability fulfills the Commandant’s directive for USMC Group 5 persistent ISR capability with strike and will achieve IOC in 2020. VMU-1 will serve as the test bed and incubator, providing “crucial information, lessons learned, requirements, and tactics, techniques, and procedures” that will help in the USMC efforts to successfully acquire and field MUX.