RQ-21 Takes First Australian Flight
A U.S. Marine Corps RQ-21A Blackjack was flown for the first time in Australia as part of the annual Marine Rotational Force-Darwin (MRF-D) on Aug. 8.
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arine Unmanned Arial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 3, MRF-D’s Air Combat Element (ACE), launched the surveillance aircraft in support of bilateral training between the U.S. and Australian Defence Forces, marking a series of firsts for the Hawaii-based unit. “This is the RQ-21A’s first deployment since we declared the squadron [fully operational], it’s very exciting for us,” said 1st Lt. Trevor Ellingson, an unmanned aircraft systems officer with VMU-3. This historical milestone comes in the midst of an unusual year for MRF-D. In order to ensure health and safety of Australians and U.S. service members amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the rotation was delayed by two months, reduced from 2,500 48
Marines to just more than 1,000 and saw the ACE—which was originally composed of several squadrons of manned aircraft including MV-22 Ospreys—reduced to just 32 Marines. However, the smaller footprint offered MRF-D an opportunity to exercise unmanned systems’ capacity to support expeditionary advance bases and positions following modernization initiatives led by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. David H. Berger. In line with these future operating concepts, Ellingson said that the unit, “didn’t bring a lot of manpower. We made our detachment as small as possible to get the mission accomplished. Out here, we’re training to be fast, agile, to be able to setup, get a bird in the sky as fast as we can and teardown quickly.” Naval Aviation News
