According to a video released by the U.S. Defense Visual Information website on August 7, 2020, U.S. Marines with Air Combat Element, Marine Rotational Force - Darwin conduct the Marine Corps' first flight of the RQ-21A Blackjack UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) in Australia in Bradshaw Field Training Area, Northern Territory, Aug. 7, 2020.
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U.S. Marines with Air Combat Element, Marine Rotational Force - Darwin conduct the Marine Corps' first flight of the RQ-21A Blackjack in Australia in Bradshaw Field Training Area, Northern Territory, Aug. 7, 2020.(Picture source U.S. DoD)
Marine Rotational Force-Darwin is a United States Marine Corps Marine Air-Ground Task Force based at Matilda Lines at Robertson Barracks and at RAAF Base Darwin.
On 16 November 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and President Barack Obama announced that starting in 2012 US Marines would deploy to Darwin on a rotational basis for about six months to conduct exercises and train with the Australian Defence Force in the Northern Territory.
The RQ-21 Blackjack is an American-made unmanned air vehicle designed and built by Boeing Insitu to meet a United States Navy requirement for a small tactical unmanned air system (STUAS).
In partnership with the Department of the Navy, Insitu developed the RQ-21A Blackjack program to fill the requirement for a small tactical unmanned aircraft system capable of operating from land and sea. The system is modular, versatile and multi-mission capable, providing rapid transitions between land and maritime environments. Blackjack’s open payload architecture is customized with imagers, communication and signals intelligence capabilities and other tools to give the soldiers a look ahead in all operational environments.
The RQ-21A is a twin-tailed UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) which has a length of 2.5 m and a wingspan of 4.87m. The system has an empty structure weight of 37 kg, a maximum takeoff weight of 61 kg, and a maximum payload capacity of 18 kg.
The RQ-21A Blackjack can be used to conduct day and night Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) coverage, target acquisition, and communication relay via a dedicated and cost-effective airborne sensor system capable of delivering actionable intelligence to the tactical commander in real-time. The expeditionary nature of the Blackjack, which does not require a runway for launch and recovery, makes it possible to deploy with a minimal footprint from both austere land-based and shipboard environments.
