According to a NAVAIR press release, the MQ-9 Reaper will fly at long-range, long-endurance missions and be affiliated with land-based Group 5 UAS to conduct ISR and data relay. The Command is tasked with monitoring Chinese activity in the South China Sea and the Pacific to provide intelligence on the island of Taiwan. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) currently has two operational MQ-9A aircraft to support coastal and border surveillance, weapons tracking, humanitarian assistance /disaster relief, embargo enforcement, and peacekeeping and counter-narcotic operations.
U.S. to Deploy MQ-9 Reaper in Indo-Pacific
