MQ-9 Reaper

The U.S. military's workhorse armed MALE UCAV — a long-endurance, remotely-piloted aircraft used for ISR and precision strike, fielded by the USAF and over a dozen allies, with a combat record that now fuels a cost-exchange debate over the survivability of expensive drones in contested airspace.

Overview

The MQ-9 Reaper, originally designated Predator B, is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) remotely-piloted aircraft manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. Designed as a larger, heavier-armed evolution of the MQ-1 Predator, it entered USAF service in 2007 and has since become the most widely operated armed UCAV in the Western alliance. The Reaper combines multi-sensor ISR with a substantial payload of precision-guided munitions — from Hellfire missiles to GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and, more recently, AIM-9X Sidewinders — and is controlled via line-of-sight or beyond-line-of-sight satellite datalink from ground stations often thousands of miles away.

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