MUX

First Marine Corps MQ-9A Reaper Squadron Now Operational

Marine Corps MQ-9A MUX/MALE is formally unveiled during a ceremony for Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU-3), Marine Aircraft Group 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Aug 2, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU 3) introduced its new Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles in a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, last week.

The Marine Corps UAV squadron, the only one of its kind in the Indo-Pacific,...

https://news.usni.org/2023/08/08/first-marine-corps-mq-9a-reaper-squadron-now-operational

Marines Want VTOL Family of Systems for Future Vertical Lift

An MV-22 Osprey, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 362, idles on the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8), Feb. 4. Makin Island is underway conducting routine operations in U.S. 3rd Fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nadia Lund)

The Marine Corps have landed on a family-of-systems approach to developing its next rotary-wing fleet, as it refines requirements for its Future Vertical Lift program, service officials said on...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/09/marines-want-vtol-family-of-systems-for-future-vertical-lift

Next Navy Helos Will Be Mix of Manned, Unmanned

An MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 performs ground turns aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) in May 2015. US Navy photo

The Navy is pursuing both manned and unmanned platforms for the aircraft that will replace its rotary-wing fleet, according to a service official.

Rear Adm. Gregory Harris, who leads the chief of naval operation’s air warfare directorate (OPNAV N98), said during a Navy League breakfast this week that...

Top Stories 2020: Marine Corps Acquisition

The Bell V-247 tiltrotor is an unmanned aerial system (UAS) that will combine the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft, and would provide long-endurance persistent expeditionary and surveillance and fires capabilities. The Marines had been considering this type of capability for their shipboard Group 5 UAS program, MUX, before the program was restructured in mid 2020. Bell Image

This post is part of a series of stories looking...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/29/top-stories-2020-marine-corps-acquisition

Marines Placing Small UAVs into Ground Combat Element, As Aviators Still Refining Large UAS Requirement

U.S. Marines with Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 2 launch a RQ-21A Blackjack for Assault Support Tactics 2 at Canon Air Defense Complex (P111), Yuma, Ariz., Oct. 12, 2016. US Marine Corps photo.

While the Marine Corps is still charting its path forward for large drones, the service is moving smaller unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) into its ground combat units.

Speaking over the weekend at a panel during the Tailhook Association’s virtual symposium, Deputy Commandant of the Marine...

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/15/marines-placing-small-uavs-into-ground-combat-element-as-aviators-still-refining-large-uas-requirement

Marines Ditch MUX Ship-Based Drone to Pursue Large Land-Based UAS, Smaller Shipboard Vehicle

The Office of Naval Research and DARPA are collaborating on the Tern project to give forward-deployed small ships the ability to serve as mobile launch and recovery sites for medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial systems that would provide ISR and other capabilities. DARPA rendering.

The Marines have ditched their plan to field a very large drone on amphibious ships, instead breaking the four-year-old MUX program into a family of systems that will include a very large land-based...

https://news.usni.org/2020/03/10/marines-ditch-mux-ship-based-drone-to-pursue-large-land-based-uas-smaller-shipboard-vehicle

Top Stories 2019: Marine Corps Acquisition

Colored oil smoke indicates rotor wake and wind effects while external “tufts” adher to the outside of the CH-53K King Stallion showing surface airflow. These efforts validate a modification mitigating Exhaust Gas Re-ingestion for the new Marine Corps aircraft. US Navy photo.

This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.

The Marine Corps in 2019 continued on its path to modernize aging systems to allow Marines to move across the air, land and sea in...

https://news.usni.org/2019/12/30/top-stories-2019-marine-corps-acquisition

Naval Integration Drive Shaping Acquisition of Marine Unmanned MUX Drone

The Bell V-247 tiltrotor is an unmanned aerial system (UAS) that will combine the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft, and would provide long-endurance persistent expeditionary and surveillance and fires capabilities. Bell Image

As the Navy and Marines continue to highlight close naval integration, the interconnectedness of the two services has moved beyond concepts and doctrine and is spilling into acquisition decisions being...

https://news.usni.org/2019/12/16/naval-integration-drive-shaping-acquisition-of-marine-unmanned-mux-drone

Marine Corps Wants MUX to Fly in 2026

DARPA demonstrator system of a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system (UAS). DAPRA Image

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Marine Corps is still evaluating what it wants its proposed large unmanned vehicle to accomplish, but the service wants to issue an airframe request for information in Fiscal Year 2020.

Early warning capability for the Amphibious Ready Group still ranks among the top priorities for the proposed Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)...

https://news.usni.org/2019/05/07/marine-corps-wants-mux-to-fly-in-2026

Top Stories 2018: U.S. Marine Corps Acquisition

USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018. This story is part of USNI News year-end series. 

2018 brought the Marine Corps such rapid advances in its next ground vehicle that the service canceled an interim upgrade program, new details on a large Group 5 unmanned aerial vehicle and a plan to upgrade amphibious warships over time to better support future Marine operations.

Ground Systems

Marine...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/31/top-stories-2018-u-s-marine-corps-acquisition