SMALL (LEVEL 0) TACTICAL UAS (STUAL0)

Abstract

The RQ-21A program provides persistent maritime and land-based tactical Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA) data collection and dissemination capability to the Warfighter. For the United States Marine Corps (USMC), RQ-21A provides the Marine Expeditionary Force and subordinate commands (divisions and regiments) with a dedicated, organic Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability delivering intelligence products directly to the tactical commander in real time. For the United States Navy (USN) RQ-21A provides persistent RSTA support for tactical maneuver decisions and unit-level force defense/force protection for Navy Ships, Marine Corps land forces, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command forces, and Navy Special Warfare Units. This is a combined development program between Navy and Marine Corps. This submission is the Marine Corps portion of the program and has been coordinated with the Navy budget submission PE 0305234N RQ-21A BLACKJACK. The RQ-21A system will continue to evolve addressing capability shortfalls, new requirements, obsolescence equipment, reliability, maintainability, and safety issues. Additional capabilities and/or system upgrades may include Navy Command and Control integration, Weapons Integration, Heavy Fuel Engine, Short Wave Infrared, Laser Designator, Frequency Agile Communications Relay, Digital Common Data link, new launch and recovery methods, parts durability, reparability, and manufacturability, and cyclic refresh of the Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR) camera.

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2020
• Source ID: 2298_0305239M_7_1319_PB_2020

Tags

Readers

• Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
• Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies
• Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

• Directed Energy
• Fully Networked C3
• Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control