Defense News | Michael Scanlon
The U.S. Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper fleet has decreased to approximately 135 aircraft due to combat attrition during "Operation Epic Fury" against Iran, as reported by Lt. Gen. David Tabor to the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland. Despite these losses, the service maintains its commitment to 56 combat lines worldwide and is actively seeking to backfill the inventory of MQ-9As this fiscal year. Recognizing the Reaper's vulnerability in contested airspace, Maj. Gen. Christopher Niemi signed a requirements document on May 11 for a next-generation, more attritable platform. This successor aims for modularity, open architecture, and mass production, with a target cost significantly lower than the current $50 million MQ-9. An April 14 Request for Information for "Attritable ISR Aircraft" garnered over 50 industry responses, emphasizing a need for low-cost, fast-to-field ISR mass with a threshold range of 200 km and 4-hour loiter time. This initiative marks the most significant step towards replacing the Reaper in over five years, following previous shelved efforts.
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