Berger: Marines ‘Not Giving Up’ on Large Ship-Based Drones
9/24/2020
By Stew Magnuson and Mandy Mayfield
The Marine Corps’ top leader said Sept. 24 that although the service is not presently working on a large amphibious ship-based drone, it is not completely putting the brakes on the effort.
“We're not giving up on a shipboard UAV by any stretch of the imagination, but we had to make a decision ... do we continue moving quickly now with what's near term, that will help us learn, and move towards technologically what is needed?†Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger said during a webinar hosted by Defense One.
It was reported in March that plans for the Marine Air-Ground Task Force unmanned aircraft system expeditionary, also known as the MUX program, had shifted from fielding the group 5 drone on an amphibious ship to instead splitting the program into a family of systems, which will include a large land-based unmanned aerial vehicle and a medium-sized vehicle for ship-based operations, according to USNI News. Group 5 systems are a category of drones that have the greatest size and endurance compared with other unmanned aerial vehicles. According to the outlet, the group 5 drone would cover a range of missions from surveillance to tactical distribution.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/9/24/marines-not-giving-up-on-large-shipbased-drone
