The Marine Corps' wants a 'mega drone' that can take off vertically and is armed to the teeth
- The US Marine Corps wants a massive drone that can take off vertically from ships and carry a massive amount of ordinance.
- The proposed drone would be roughly the same size as the MQ-9 Reaper, and be used for numerous operations, including escort, early warning, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and air support.
- Multiple companies are already in the process of making concepts for the drone, which the Marine Corps wants by 2034.
The Marine Corps recently released a list of desired specifications for their future drone system, known as the Marine Air Ground Task Force Unmanned Aircraft System-Expeditionary, or MUX.
The requirements, first reported by Military.com, include the ability to take off vertically from ships, carry a combined internal and external payload of 9,500 pounds, and fly at least 700 nautical miles (805 land miles) fully loaded. The Marines also want a cruising speed from 200kt to 300kt (230-340 mph).
The intended missions for the aircraft include escorting V-22 Ospreys to and from their destinations, early warning, communications relay, and picket line guard missions of Marine amphibious ready groups. The MUX would also be used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.
The Marines want the drone to be armed with a range of weapons that can destroy land and air targets. Air-to-ground weapons could include the AGM-114 Hellfire, the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System laser-guided rocket, the AGM-88E Anti-radiation missile, and small-diameter bombs.
Air-to-air weapons could include the AIM-9X Sidewinder, and the AIM-120 AMRAAM. The Marines also want the MUX to be able to drop an expendable unmanned aerial vehicle for electronic warfare or early warning operations.
All of this equipment, and the fact that it is supposed to take off vertically, means that the drone is going to have to be big - at least as big as the Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper.
When asked in 2016 if the Marines really needed such a drone, Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, then the deputy commandant for aviation responded, "absolutely we do. And we're going to get it."
"If we do distributed operations, we're going to need all the game we can bring," he said.
There are three companies that have already drawn up concepts for such a drone. Bell Helicopter, the makers of the V-22, has put forward the V-247 Vigilant, which, like the Osprey, is a tiltrotor aircraft.
Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, in coordination with Piasecki Aircraft is developing the ARES, an acronym for affordable re-configurable embedded system. Northrop Grumman has created an interesting "tail-sitting" drone called the Tern.
The Marines are aiming for an operational land-based version of the drone by 2025, an initial sea-based version by 2028, and a fully operational drone by 2034.
Though the demands may be high, Davis told Military.com before his retirement in 2017 that he believes it can be done, reminding critics that similar things were said of the V-22.
"V-22, impossible? Nope. F-35B, impossible? Nope. Very possible, very doable, very good," Davis said. "Bottom line, the engineering - this is not a pie in the sky. This is very doable."