{"id":13886,"date":"2019-03-12T16:35:51","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T16:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/12\/the-corps-seeks-reaper-drones-and-modernization-in-budget-request-but-will-only-add-100-marines-in-2020\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:32:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:32:25","slug":"the-corps-seeks-reaper-drones-and-modernization-in-budget-request-but-will-only-add-100-marines-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/03\/12\/the-corps-seeks-reaper-drones-and-modernization-in-budget-request-but-will-only-add-100-marines-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"The Corps seeks Reaper drones in budget request, but will only add 100 Marines in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Corps plans to only grow by 100 Marines to 186,200 in fiscal year 2020, but that investment focuses on Marines with high-end skills and weapons and tech for the modern battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fiscal 2020 Navy budget request<\/a>, totaling a whopping $205.6 billion, is a 4.6 percent increase from fiscal 2019. The budget reflects the Corps\u2019 continued goals to overhaul its force in the face of rising near-peer and peer competitors like Russia and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a first for the Corps, the Marines plan to procure its largest drone yet, the MQ-9 Reaper, which is believed to be a gap filler and trainer for the Corps as it drives to develop the futuristic MUX drone<\/a>. The Corps plans to procure three Reapers in fiscal 2020, according to Navy budget documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other aviation fiscal 2020 procurements include six more CH-53Ks, 10 more F-35Bs and an air adversarial trainer, Switzerland\u2019s F-5E\/F \u2014 a supersonic fighter that will help train Navy and Marine aviators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S. 5th FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS \u2013 U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), stage ordnance before loading it into an F-35B Lightning II aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) in preparation for the F-35B’s first combat strike, Sept. 27, 2018. The Essex is the flagship for the Essex Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 13th MEU, is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. A. J. Van Fredenberg\/Released)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The CH-53K<\/a> is the Corps\u2019 newest heavy-lift workhorse helicopters that will prove vital helping move Marines and equipment across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. In total, the Navy-Marine team is seeking to add 148 aircraft to the tune of $18.6 billion \u2014 a slight decrease from $20.3 billion in fiscal 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, Reapers in the Corps\u2019 arsenal would be the first time the Corps has ever fielded or operated a large group-5 drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corps\u2019 does not currently have institutional knowledge on operating and maintaining group-5 drones, but has slowly been learning the ropes in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small Marine adviser group in Helmand province, Afghanistan, known as Task Force Southwest has a Reaper organic to the unit, though the drone is contractor operated through General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Reaper is helping provide tactical and intelligence support to Marines downrange but its also helping the Corps build knowledge of operating the Reaper. The Corps says the goal is that Marines will eventually operate and maintain the system on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Afghanistan based MQ-9 is believed to be a gap filler for the Corps\u2019 futuristic MUX, which isn\u2019t expected to be fielded for years. The MUX is the Corps\u2019 expeditionary sea-based and amphibious ship launched drone that will aid the Corps in operating independent of carrier groups with an array of sensors and early airborne warning capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\t