MAGIC
Medium Altitude Global ISR and Communications
CORE programme
USAF endurance-ISR programme. Air vehicle: Aurora Orion. Office: 645 AESG / BIG SAFARI — the same rapid-acquisition group that ran Gorgon Stare and took Blue Devil residuals. Confirmed as a multi-day ISR platform in that family. A specific MH370 operation is not established and is not ruled out.
MAGIC originated as an OSD/DDR&E Joint Capability Technology Demonstration around FY2010 Q3, then transitioned to Air Force sponsorship in FY2011. Aurora’s Orion was the selected air vehicle. OSD PB2012 PE 0603648D8Z: USCENTCOM sponsor; 120-hour sortie; nominal 1,000 lb / maximum 2,600 lb at 15,000 ft; modular payload classes EO/IR, SIGINT, GMTI, wide-area surveillance, communications relay, strike; transition named to USAF 303rd AESW. USAF PB2015 PE 0305205F is the core MAGIC-as-executed source: 120-hour / 20,000 ft / 1,000 lb ISR payload objective; two Joint Urgent Operational Needs; FY2013 $50m Congressional add; first flight 24 August 2013 at China Lake. Payload was still being selected as “best of breed” GFE through FY2014 — that is a fit question, not a finding that MAGIC was only an empty airframe. The 2012 NPS thesis modelled MAGIC as long-range ISR; its $510m RDT&E figure is an academic model, not an official acquisition estimate. MAGIC/Orion did not disappear after 2014. USAF PB2020 PE 0305205F records Congressional adds of $20m FY2015, $5m FY2016, $50m FY2017 and $40m FY2018 on a demonstrator-to-deployable Block 1 Orion path. MAGIC sits in a documented overlapping family with Gorgon Stare and Blue Devil under BIG SAFARI. That family is confirmed. A collector on 8 March 2014 is still open.
Sources
- USAF PB2015 PE 0305205F
- Aurora 2010 MAGIC press (Airframer mirror)
Related
Aurora Orion RPA
Twin-diesel MALE UAS · China Lake first flight 24 Aug 2013
645 AESG / BIG SAFARI
USAF rapid acquisition — the office that binds this family
ISIS
Integrated Sensor Is Structure · DARPA/USAF airship radar
Gorgon Stare
BIG SAFARI wide-area surveillance · podded, not MQ-9-only
Blue Devil I / II
Operational Block 1 WAAS + SIGINT · Block 2 residuals to BIG SAFARI
Orion first flight, China Lake
24 August 2013 · ~3.5 hours · 8,000 ft · no mission payload
FY2013 Endurance UAV budget jumped via Congressional adds, not a hidden presidential request
What sensors were actually on Orion by March 2014?
OSD PB2012 — MAGIC JCTD primary record
PE 0603648D8Z · pp. 32–33 · USCENTCOM sponsor
USAF PB2020 — MAGIC/Orion continued after 2014
PE 0305205F · Congressional adds FY2015–FY2018
USAF 303rd AESW
Named MAGIC transition organisation in OSD PB2012
Gorgon Stare, Blue Devil and MAGIC/Orion are one overlapping ISR family under BIG SAFARI
MAGIC JCTD initiated
FY2010 Q3 · OSD/DDR&E
Orion 80-hour remotely controlled flight
December 2014 · 1,000 lb ballast · fuel for ~37 more hours
MH370 Daily Research — working papers
18 September 2026
Business Case Analysis of MAGIC UAV System
Naval Postgraduate School thesis · public PDF
Aurora Flight Sciences
HALE/MALE autonomy house · Orion prime
A BIG SAFARI collection architecture around MH370
The family is documented. A specific 8 March operation is open.
A specific MH370 collection event is not yet on the record — and is not ruled out
What is the bridge from the ISR family to MH370?
What were the two MAGIC JUON numbers and the FY2012/13 add sponsors?
Blue Devil, MAGIC, Orion, BIG SAFARI — 2014 window
Briefing collages, 18 September 2026
MAGIC, Aurora and Boeing/NRL patents drop from the paper trail in 2014
MAGIC/Orion continued in USAF development after 2014
FIRST RF Phase II — dual-band UHF/X-band airborne SAR
FA8650-11-C-1016 · $749,593 · start 26 Jan 2011 · topic AF093-138