The US Marine Corps retired the RQ-7B Shadow unmanned system at the end of the recent Rim of the Pacific exercise at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Marine Unmanned Air Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU-3) was the last US Marine Corps unit to use the Shadow, the other squadrons having already transitioned to the RQ-21 Blackjack. VMU-3 itself moved on to the RQ-21 immediately after the exercise. Captain Mathew Kramer, a UAV commander with VMU-3, said the last flight was the end of an era: "Variances of the RQ-7 have been flying since Operation Desert Storm, throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, right up until operations ceased. It's exciting to see how the Blackjack will perform."
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