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Four Marine Battalions Will Have Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Before 2017

Four Marine Battalions Will Have Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Before 2017
U.S. Marines with Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 2 launch a RQ-21A Blackjack for Assault Support Tactics 2 at Canon Air Defense Complex (P111), Yuma, Ariz., Oct. 12, 2016.

The Marine Corps will equip four battalions with small unmanned aerial systems down to the squad level before the end of the year in an ambitious plan to purchase and field commercial quadcopters as rapidly as possible.Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, chief of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, on Tuesday said he plans to buy enough commercially available quadrotor-type UAS to equip squads in four battalions before the end of 2016.“The timeline is as fast as we can buy them,” Walsh…

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