The U.S. Air Force is accelerating its timeline for a cheaper, more expendable successor to the MQ-9A Reaper, officials said Sept. 3, after combat losses left the service unwilling to wait out the rest of the drone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, the Air Force\u2019s chief modernization officer, told reporters at the Pentagon that a follow-on was already under discussion as the MQ-9 aged out. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough we have plenty of MQ-9As today, we are going through them at a rate that is concerning to us,\u201d he said, according to Breaking Defense<\/a>, which covered the briefing.<\/p>\n Defense Daily<\/a> reported that Air Force Secretary Troy Meink directed the acceleration, and that the fiscal 2031 target of 20 mission-ready aircraft could be pulled forward by about two years.<\/p>\n In May, Lt. Gen. David Tabor told the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland the fleet was down to about 135 aircraft<\/a>, roughly 54 below the service\u2019s 189-aircraft floor. Niemi did not update the inventory. <\/p>\n Backfilling the fleet is difficult. General Atomics shut down MQ-9A production in 2025, and Tabor said the service was pursuing a short-term buy of existing MQ-9A airframes in fiscal 2026. Niemi said Sept. 3 that budget constraints make buying a large number of upgraded MQ-9B SkyGuardians unrealistic. It is a misconception, he said, that the Air Force could write a check and take delivery of 100 aircraft.<\/p>\n A Congressional Research Service Insight<\/a> updated May 13 cited an April 9 news report of 24 Reapers lost since military operations against Iran began in February, and said it was unclear whether the Pentagon had given Congress an accounting. The Washington Post reported Aug. 13<\/a>, citing three U.S. officials, that at least 45 had been lost, roughly 25% of the fleet.<\/p>\n Niemi signed requirements in May for a cheaper, modular, mass-producible aircraft. <\/p>\n That program, Massed Modular Aircraft, or MMA, opened as a Defense Innovation Unit competition July 7<\/a> with the Air Force as partner. The solicitation, which closed July 23, asked for a drone that could fly Reaper-class strike, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare and communications-relay missions cheaply enough to absorb losses. It called for at least 2,800 pounds of payload and an 8,000-nautical-mile one-way ferry range.<\/p>\n That is the aircraft Niemi now prices against Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA. He put CCA air vehicles near $20 million and MMA at about half that, Defense Daily<\/a> reported. <\/p>\n An Air Force spokesperson said those figures are for the air vehicle only, not a fully missionized aircraft, according to Breaking Defense<\/a>. In May, Niemi told senators a Reaper with a full sensor package can cost up to $50 million. At the Sept. 3 briefing, he said the Air Force will probably field at least 180 MMA drones.<\/p>\n Niemi argued the Reaper\u2019s value is not the airframe. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes the MQ-9 special has nothing to do with the aircraft itself,\u201d he said, calling its speed, altitude and range decades-old technology. <\/p>\n Initial MMA versions, he said, will rely on proven technology rather than new systems to hit the price. He described a long-aspect-wing turboprop in the \u201c4,000 miles-type class,\u201d farther and heavier than a CCA but slower. Officials did not say how that class relates to the 8,000-nautical-mile ferry range in the July notice. <\/p>\n General Atomics is bidding a design it calls Wildfire, first reported by Aviation Week<\/a> in August. Spokesman C. Mark Brinkley told Air & Space Forces Magazine<\/a> it \u201cmeets every wish on the [MMA] list and exceeds most of them,\u201d but declined to give capabilities or cost. The company has not released images. <\/p>\n