Overview
- Air Force officials told senators they have approved formal requirements for a Reaper replacement built for contested airspace with open architecture, modular sensors, and mass production.
- The service plans a short-term buyback of MQ-9As to rebuild capacity after combat losses cut the fleet to about 135 aircraft, yet leaders say they can still sustain 56 around-the-clock surveillance lines worldwide.
- An April request for information for an “Attritable ISR Aircraft” drew responses from more than 50 companies, signaling broad industry interest in a lower-cost drone.
- The solicitation outlines baseline goals such as a 200 km range to the collection area, a four-hour loiter time, and the ability for production lines to scale within months.
- Officials said the Reaper’s sensor suite can push unit cost to about $50 million, and a modular successor would let crews remove high-end packages for high-threat missions to keep losses affordable, while General Atomics is pitching MQ-9B modular options available now.