Ship-Launched Drone Could Carry Same Weapons As The F-35B

The U.S. Marine Corps has released its design specifications for the Marine air-ground task force unmanned expeditionary capabilities (MUX) that it plans to deploy by 2026.

Newsweek Magazine reports that the specifications call for an aircraft that will carry a full weapons payload with a range of 700 nautical miles at speeds between 200 and 400 knots. It will perform escort and airstrike missions launched from ships at sea.

According to DOD Buzz, Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation, Lt. Gen. Jon "Dog" Davis, said at the Unmanned Systems Defense conference in Arlington, VA that the platform would be a "Group 5" aircraft, the largest class of military dorne. "I want my airplane to go off a seabase and, frankly, I think the Group 5 [unmanned aircraft system] for the Marine Corps will have [AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile] on there, will have AIM-9X [Sidewinder missile], will have all the weapons that an F-35 will carry, maybe even the sensors the F-35 will carry," Davis said.

But he stressed that the drone would not be a competitor to the F-35, but rather work in collaboration with the JSF. "It's about ... making sure that the Marines have the very best protection wherever they go, whatever they do, and manned-unmanned teaming is not just with attack helicopters -- it's with jets, it's with grunts," Davis said.

Potential candidates for the MUX are the Textron V-247, the Kaman K-Max helicopter and the TERN aircraft being developed by DARPA.

The program has been in the planning stages since 2016. Newsweek reports that, according to the Marine Corps announcement, the service would like to see early operational capability for a land-based system by 2025, and a ship-based VTOL system flying in 2028.

(V-247 image from file)

FMI: Original report, Original report