The US Marine Corps is training 100 MQ-9 Reaper pilots to support the country’s reconnaissance.
The milestone is expected to help establish new squadrons of cutting-edge unmanned systems operated by skilled personnel.
The Marine Corps, along with other services within the US military, has been expanding its drone-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities amid growing threats from near-peer adversaries.
Training 100 new Reaper pilots is a significant achievement, especially after the service previously failed to meet its quota.
In 2022, the US Marine Corps announced that it was only able to train 38 pilots out of the 68 needed. The trained pilots also happened to be commissioned officers instead of warrant officers similar to the ones the US Air Force is utilizing.
Reaper Program
Unlike the US Air Force, which first operated the MQ-9 in 2007, the US Marine Corps only received its Reaper drone in 2018 under a lease program.
It was finally able to procure its own from General Atomics in 2020, the same year it inaugurated a new military occupational specialty for MQ-9 pilots.
According to the service, the Marine Reaper pilots will act as a “stand-in” force of the future, supporting maritime littoral missions.
“We need to transition from our current [unmanned aerial system] platforms to capabilities that can operate from ship, from shore, and be able to employ both collection and lethal payloads,” it noted.
At present, three Marine Corps units operate the Reaper: VMU-1 in Arizona, UX-24 in Maryland, and VMU-3 in Hawaii.
Boosting Surveillance Capabilities
The US military has invested heavily in ISR capabilities, especially after a Chinese spy balloon was able to enter its well-guarded airspace last year and fly over military installations.
The US Army already announced plans to launch its own spy balloon program in 2025 to help all services improve their reaction time to potential threats.
The US Navy has also bolstered its long-range maritime patrol capability with the acquisition of several P-8A Poseidon aircraft from Boeing.