After ‘concerning’ losses, Air Force pushes to replace Reaper faster

Key Points:

• The U.S. Air Force is accelerating efforts to replace the MQ-9A Reaper drone due to significant combat losses and high costs, aiming to develop a new Mass Modular Aircraft (MMA) drone priced around $10 million each.
• Since February, at least 45 MQ-9A Reapers, about a quarter of the Pentagon’s inventory, have been lost in operations against Iran, prompting urgent development of the MMA program to produce 20 mission-ready drones by fiscal 2031, with plans to field at least 180 eventually.
• The MMA drone will prioritize cost-efficiency by using proven technologies and design compromises, featuring long-range capabilities (approximately 4,000 miles), heavy payload capacity, and higher automation to allow one operator to control multiple drones.
• General Atomics, maker of the MQ-9 Reaper, is competing with its new Wildfire design for the MMA program, promising earlier delivery and maintaining Reaper-like qualities at a more affordable price.
• The Air Force plans to maintain competition by involving multiple manufacturers and aims for scalable production with modular hardware and software architectures to enable rapid feature upgrades and operational flexibility.