Sailors perform scheduled maintenance on an E/A-18G Growler from the “Cougars” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 139 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in the Philippine Sea, April 28, 2025. Nimitz is underway in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations on a scheduled deployment, demonstrating the U.S. Navy's unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Tomas R. Valdes)

04.28.2025
POINT MUGU, Calif. (2025) - F-35C's assigned to the "Vampires" of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9) conducts flight and test operations onboard Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu. VX-9 is charged with the testing and evaluation of weapons and their related systems in direct support of the United States Naval Aviation Fleet. NBVC is major shore warfighting platform; providing sustained ready forces to deploy, fight, and win. Composed of three operating facilities: Point Mugu, Port Hueneme and San Nicolas Island and home of the Pacific Seabees, West Coast E-2D Hawkeyes, 3 warfare centers and 110 tenant commands. (U.S. Navy photos by Lt.j.g. Drew Verbis)


04.28.2025
POINT MUGU, Calif. (2025) - A EA-18G Growler assigned to the "Dust Devils" of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 31 conducts flight and test operations onboard Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu. VX-31 is based at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif. and charged with conducting safe, effective, and efficient flight testing and evaluation of aircraft and weapon systems in direct support of the United States Naval Aviation Fleet. NBVC is major shore warfighting platform; providing sustained ready forces to deploy, fight, and win. Composed of three operating facilities: Point Mugu, Port Hueneme and San Nicolas Island and home of the Pacific Seabees, West Coast E-2D Hawkeyes, 3 warfare centers and 110 tenant commands. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt.j.g. Drew Verbis)

04.28.2025
POINT MUGU, Calif. (2025) - EA-18G Growlers assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23) conducts flight and test operations onboard Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu. NBVC is major shore warfighting platform; providing sustained ready forces to deploy, fight, and win. Composed of three operating facilities: Point Mugu, Port Hueneme and San Nicolas Island and home of the Pacific Seabees, West Coast E-2D Hawkeyes, 3 warfare centers and 110 tenant commands. (U.S. Navy photos by Lt.j.g. Drew Verbis)


04.28.2025
POINT MUGU, Calif. (2025) - A US Air Force F-117 Nighthawk conducts flight and test operations onboard Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu. NBVC is major shore warfighting platform; providing sustained ready forces to deploy, fight, and win. Composed of three operating facilities: Point Mugu, Port Hueneme and San Nicolas Island and home of the Pacific Seabees, West Coast E-2D Hawkeyes, 3 warfare centers and 110 tenant commands. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt.j.g. Drew Verbis)

04.28.2025
POINT MUGU, Calif. (2025) - A U.S. Air Force F-35A from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) conducts flight and test operations onboard Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu. NBVC is major shore warfighting platform; providing sustained ready forces to deploy, fight, and win. Composed of three operating facilities: Point Mugu, Port Hueneme and San Nicolas Island and home of the Pacific Seabees, West Coast E-2D Hawkeyes, 3 warfare centers and 110 tenant commands. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt.j.g. Drew Verbis)

SAN DIEGO – 29 April 2025 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) delivered an MQ-9A Reaper® Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). The new MQ-9A Block 5 Extended Range (ER) UAS was delivered on April 22, 2025, and will be operated by Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1), a USMC operational test squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona.

The new MQ-9A UAS will be used by the USMC to perform operational tests and evaluations, as well as create Marine Aviation tactics, techniques, and procedures through experimentation as the Marines fully implement MQ-9A as a critical part of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF).

“The Marine Corps is building out its ISR capabilities with this new aircraft,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “We are excited to see what VMX-1 does in terms of operational test in preparation for pushing new capabilities into the field.”

The MQ-9A ER is designed with field-retrofittable capabilities, such as wing-borne fuel pods and reinforced landing gear, that extend the aircraft's endurance to more than 30 hours while further increasing its operational flexibility. It provides long-endurance, persistent surveillance capabilities, with Full-Motion Video and Synthetic Aperture Radar/Moving Target Indicator/Maritime Mode Radar. An extremely reliable aircraft, MQ-9A ER is equipped with a fault-tolerant flight control system and a triple-redundant avionics system architecture. It is engineered to meet and exceed manned aircraft reliability standards.

To date, GA-ASI has delivered 18 MQ-9A UAS to USMC. The USMC awaits delivery of two additional aircraft by the end of this year.

About GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is the world’s foremost builder of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Logging more than 8 million flight hours, the Predator® line of UAS has flown for over 30 years and includes MQ-9A Reaper®, MQ-1C Gray Eagle® 25M, MQ-20 Avenger®, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian®/SeaGuardian®. The company is dedicated to providing long-endurance, multi-mission solutions that deliver persistent situational awareness and rapid strike.

For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com

Australia completes its first Operation ARGOS deployment for 2025!
A RAAF P-8A Poseidon aircraft deployed to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, reaffirming Australia’s commitment to enforcing United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea.
(Photo courtesy of CPL Emma Schwenke)

Also a RNZAF P-8A Poseidon aircraft has deployed to Japan to conduct monitoring of United Nations sanctions against North Korea.
The four-week deployment will see the aircraft and crew carrying out airborne surveillance of the waters around East Asia to capture evidence of ship-to-ship transfers of resources used for the North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
(Photo courtesy of the RNZAF)