{"id":139331,"date":"2023-03-29T13:03:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T17:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=139331"},"modified":"2023-03-29T13:11:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T17:11:27","slug":"marine-reaper-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=139331","title":{"rendered":"Marine Reaper Woes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nMQ-9 Reaper<\/em><\/p>\n

Two years ago, the Marine’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (VMU-1, 3rd MAW) procured the MQ-9A Reaper drone. Significant because of the vehicle’s proven role as the primary offensive strike unmanned aerial vehicle for the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n

The UAV is touted to provide the capability to perform strike, coordination, and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets. The capabilities include significant legs and loiter time, multispectral sensors, an advanced comm suite, and precision weapons.<\/p>\n

VMU-1 spox state the command is uniquely positioned to enable joint force targeting from a remote location by a Marine aviator and sensor operator.<\/p>\n

There is a problem, though.<\/p>\n

The Marine Corps can\u2019t train MQ-9 operators fast enough<\/h3>\n

In separate hearings, two senators – both from North Dakota – pressed Pentagon brass about training issues and use case for the MQ-9 Reaper.<\/em><\/p>\n

By JUSTIN KATZ<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Marine Corps, in its eagerness to ramp up purchases of the unmanned MQ-9 Reaper, has run into a problem: It can\u2019t get enough officers trained on how to operate the plane fast enough.<\/p>\n

The issue came up today while the service\u2019s senior officer, Commandant Gen. David Berger, was testifying before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense, alongside Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday.<\/p>\n

In response to a question from Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., Berger said the Marines had been relying on the Air Force, which has been using the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drone since 2007, for training. That reliance, Berger said, will not get the Marines to the number of qualified officers it needs to operate the Reapers it is purchasing.<\/p>\n

The Marine Corps received funding from lawmakers to buy five MQ-9s, built by General Atomics, in fiscal 2023 and is seeking money for five more in FY24.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t see any shrinking of \u2014 reduction of that demand so \u2026 we got a couple of options here,\u201d Berger said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Breaking Defense<\/a><\/p>\n

So much to poke at here, most involving the word “logistics.” Purchase of an advanced weapons system without a manning pipeline defines nonexistent planning. Worse, that merely masks the real issue.<\/p>\n

No real pilot wants to fly a drone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MQ-9 Reaper Two years ago, the Marine’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing … Marine Reaper Woes<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,331],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blue-skies","category-marines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=139331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=139331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=139331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=139331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}