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Navy Taps 3 Contractors for MQ-9 Reaper Network Extension Efforts

Navy Taps 3 Contractors for MQ-9 Reaper Network Extension Efforts - top government contractors - best government contracting event

Global Air Logistics and Training, Northrop Grumman and L3 Harris Technologies will help the U.S. Navy develop a network pod to expand the mission capabilities of the U.S. Marine Corps’ MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle.

Work on the first phase of the Reaper Airborne Network Extension Skytower II program will be under an $8.4 million contract awarded using other transaction authority, Naval Air Systems Command said Monday. 

The three companies will develop STII and aim to support the General Atomics-built drone’s operational missions by expanding its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

Specifically, the MQ-9 Reaper network advancement effort seeks to simplify the retransmission, cross-branding and data translation across connected networks. It also targets to fortify battle space awareness and information-sharing capacities between naval and Joint Force. 

Michelle Dutko, STII team lead at the multi-mission tactical unmanned air system program office, said the Navy and Marine Corps intend to demo a prototype system on a substitute aircraft and then on an MQ-9A aircraft after the research and development phase is done. 

The MQ-9 Reaper, equipped with the new system, is expected to be deployed in 2026. 

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Written by Regina Garcia

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