{"id":32124,"date":"2022-10-25T18:53:32","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T18:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/25\/air-forces-first-pacific-mq-9-squadron-comes-at-crossroads-for-drone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:11:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:11:25","slug":"air-forces-first-pacific-mq-9-squadron-comes-at-crossroads-for-drone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/10\/25\/air-forces-first-pacific-mq-9-squadron-comes-at-crossroads-for-drone\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force\u2019s first Pacific MQ-9 squadron comes at crossroads for drone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Air Force is deploying MQ-9 Reapers in the Indo-Pacific for the first time under a newly reactivated squadron on the edge of the East China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Kanoya Air Base in southern Japan formally began operations Sunday under the command of Lt. Col. Alexander Kelly, the Air Force said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s the latest iteration of a unit that was first created as a fighter squadron in New York in 1942, and last served as a training squadron in Florida until 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2022\/08\/08\/us-navy-injects-first-of-kind-unmanned-experiments-into-multinational-exercise\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7296894.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US Navy injects first-of-kind unmanned experiments into multinational exercise<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Look no further than the Rim of the Pacific drills for clues about the sea service&#039;s future fleet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, the 319th will provide eyes in the sky over east Asia in support of joint U.S.-Japan intelligence objectives and \u201cto ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific,\u201d the service said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its patrols could help collect information about Chinese military activity in the area \u2014 including signs it may be preparing to invade Taiwan \u2014 and that of North Korea, which recently fired a ballistic missile over Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis will enhance the joint ability to respond to threats and emerging situations, while strengthening the alliance,\u201d the Air Force said. \u201cMQ-9s can be used to cooperatively address regional challenges such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and other issues affecting the Indo-Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reapers are typically used to conduct airstrikes as well, but will not be armed for reconnaissance missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/05\/26\/get-ready-for-another-fight-over-the-future-of-the-mq-9-reaper\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"205\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/210503-F-RQ072-1204.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Get ready for another fight over the future of the MQ-9 Reaper<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cThere is no need to buy more aircraft,&quot; acting Air Force Secretary John Roth wrote in a letter to a senator, recently seen by Defense News.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force has struggled to chart a path forward for the MQ-9 fleet outside of U.S. Central Command, where the drones have redefined modern war as a pivotal counterterror asset in the past two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After multiple attempts to convince Congress to let it cease MQ-9 purchases from drone manufacturer General Atomics, the Air Force may get its wish in the coming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service hopes to shrink its Reaper fleet from 351 to 276 aircraft by the end of fiscal 2023, and stop production altogether. It fears the aircraft could become easy targets for Chinese air defenses in a potential war, and wants to funnel that money toward higher-priority acquisition programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe most recent briefing to the committee indicated that the Air Force intends to remove well over half of the existing aircraft from the MQ-9 fleet by fiscal year 2027,\u201d the House Armed Services Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/CRPT-117hrpt397\/pdf\/CRPT-117hrpt397.pdf\">wrote in July<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2022\/10\/21\/poland-leases-mq-9a-reapers-ahead-of-drone-buy\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"193\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/MQ9-Reaper.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Poland leases MQ-9A Reapers ahead of drone buy<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Russia&#039;s invasion of Ukraine has spurred new drone purchases in European NATO countries.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite earlier disagreements with DOD, lawmakers appear willing to curtail the MQ-9 program in the defense policy and spending bills now moving through Congress. But some still want more information about what the fleet has to offer outside of CENTCOM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Senate Armed Services Committee has asked the Pentagon\u2019s cost assessment office to produce a financial outlook for the MQ-9 program, including the price of its current and future missions, by Feb. 1, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSome have suggested that the MQ-9 still has a role in great power competition,\u201d the panel said in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armed-services.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/fy23_ndaa_bill_report.pdf\">report accompanying<\/a> the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill. \u201cSupporters of continued MQ-9 employment have asserted that the MQ-9 possesses similar survivability as other fourth-generation aircraft, and there is no reason that they could not operate in threat environments similar to F-15s or F-16s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/07\/18\/marine-corps-wants-to-test-out-attritable-partner-drones-new-mq-9-payloads\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/reaper.jpg_dc985c.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Marine Corps wants to test out partner drones, new MQ-9 Reaper payloads<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Marine Corps wants to increase its rapid prototyping fund by nearly a factor of six in 2023.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The House Armed Services and Appropriations committees are also looking for more transparency on efforts to modernize the current fleet with upgraded communications and electronic warfare technology, among other gear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. has included Reapers in its training exercises in the Indo-Pacific for years. The experiments help gauge how well the drones \u2014 which are far more vulnerable to bad weather and battlefield threats than manned aircraft \u2014 could perform in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MQ-9 schoolhouse at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, in 2020 rewrote its syllabus with a greater focus on the tactics needed for more challenging missions in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt incorporates maritime interdiction capabilities, it incorporates a lot more major contingency operation capabilities, air interdiction,\u201d 29th Attack Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Brian Davis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airandspaceforces.com\/with-an-eye-on-china-reaper-drones-train-for-maritime-war\/\">said at the time<\/a>. \u201cIt reinvigorates our strike coordination and reconnaissance capability, and it also increases our combat search and rescue capability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/02\/23\/air-forces-mq-9-reapers-are-now-conducting-missions-from-romania\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6007931-1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Air Force\u2019s MQ-9 Reapers are now conducting missions from Romania<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cThis is an exciting moment where we can showcase the value of the MQ-9 across the globe, not just in the Middle East.&quot;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More recently, the MQ-9 has appeared at major exercises from the Navy\u2019s massive Rim of the Pacific event to the biennial Valiant Shield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s been tasked with maritime surveillance and target tracking, among other missions, in a shift away from its usual training over remote strips of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe data that we have in a simulator feeds off of real-world engagements like [sinking exercises],\u201d Air National Guard Capt. Phillip West, the MQ-9 maritime force integration lead at RIMPAC, said in a press release. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to build a database of what ships look like. \u2026 Then they can fit it into a simulator so we can practice it and have more efficient training.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron will provide eyes in the sky over east Asia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":71461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3484],"class_list":["post-32124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3UUO77LBCZG4NFZHCJKHMMZI44","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/10\/25\/air-forces-first-pacific-mq-9-squadron-comes-at-crossroads-for-drone\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Air Force\u2019s first Pacific MQ-9 squadron comes at crossroads for drone - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron will provide eyes in the sky over east Asia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Air Force\u2019s first Pacific MQ-9 squadron comes at crossroads for drone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron will provide eyes in the sky over east Asia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/10\/25\/air-forces-first-pacific-mq-9-squadron-comes-at-crossroads-for-drone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-25T18:53:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:11:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel S. Cohen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel S. Cohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/25\\\/air-forces-first-pacific-mq-9-squadron-comes-at-crossroads-for-drone\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/25\\\/air-forces-first-pacific-mq-9-squadron-comes-at-crossroads-for-drone\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            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