{"id":16885,"date":"2019-04-30T18:29:24","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T18:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/30\/the-corps-wants-vertical-take-off-capability-for-its-rq-21-blackjack-drone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:46:07","slug":"the-corps-wants-vertical-take-off-capability-for-its-rq-21-blackjack-drone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2019\/04\/30\/the-corps-wants-vertical-take-off-capability-for-its-rq-21-blackjack-drone\/","title":{"rendered":"The Corps wants vertical take-off capability for its RQ-21 Blackjack drone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Corps\u2019 tiny <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/03\/20\/here-are-some-of-the-tactical-drones-the-corps-wants-in-2020\/\" target=_blank>InstantEye quadcopters<\/a> fielded to the rifle squads take off with ease from a Marine\u2019s hand and require no additional equipment for launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now the Corps wants the same capability for its much larger group three drone known as the RQ-21 Blackjack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Corps\u2019 2019 aviation plan, the Marines are in pursuit of a vertical take-off and landing, or VTOL, kit for the Blackjack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new kits will give the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/08\/28\/17-marine-r-device-awards-shed-light-on-corps-reliance-on-remote-weapons\/\" target=_blank>Blackjack<\/a> a lighter footprint and make the system more expeditionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/01\/18\/the-corps-is-going-all-in-on-small-tactical-drones-as-it-preps-for-future-war\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"163\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/drone-rq.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The Corps is going all in on small tactical drones as it preps for future war<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Corps considered a variety of drones with an array of ranges and capabilities integrated at the battalion level all the way down to the squad.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Blackjack system is currently fielded with a cumbersome launcher and recovery hook, which can be used to launch the aircraft from the ground or even the deck of a ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cVertical take-off and landing (VTOL) for the RQ-21 would significantly decrease the logistical footprint of the system by eliminating the launcher and recovery system, to include the support equipment for those items,&#8221; Capt. Christopher Harrison, a Marine spokesman, told Marine Corps Times in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRetrofitting the Blackjack with VTOL provides a rapid expeditionary capability and ultimately greater lethality in support of the MAGTF [Marine air-ground task force].&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it\u2019s not the only upgrade coming for the Blackjack. The Corps is also interested in adding a signals intelligence and electronic warfare payload to the group three drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That will afford more Marine units at lower echelons of the tactical level organic electronic warfare capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The RQ-21 Blackjack replaced the the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/07\/30\/rq-7b-shadow-makes-its-last-flight-in-the-marine-corps\/\" target=_blank>RQ-7B Shadow<\/a>, which flew it\u2019s last flight in July 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Corps\u2019 most recent aviation plan, the RQ-21 Blackjack has already racked up 8,700 flight hours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new VTOL capability for the Blackjack drone will scrap the launcher and make the system more expeditionary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":41810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,29,32,21,111],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3369],"class_list":["post-16885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-unmanned","category-unmanned-systems"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"EGGDMZB4OZAAZMILP7DVGBVETU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/04\/30\/the-corps-wants-vertical-take-off-capability-for-its-rq-21-blackjack-drone\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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