The MQ-9B is a medium-to high-altitude, long-endurance hunter-killer RPA, primarily tasked with eliminating time-critical and high-value targets in permissive environments.
Additional roles include CAS, CSAR, precision strike, armed overwatch, target development/designation, and terminal weapon guidance. The MQ-9 fulfills a secondary tactical ISR role utilizing its Multispectral Targeting System-B (MTS-B), upgraded Lynx SAR, and/or Gorgon Stare wide-area surveillance. MTS-B integrates EO/IR, color/monochrome daylight TV, image-intensified TV, and a laser designator/illuminator. MTS-B provides FMV as separate video streams or fused together.
The MQ-9 employs SAR for JDAM targeting and dismounted target tracking. A Reaper system comprises three aircraft, upgraded Block 30 GCS, LOS/BLOS satellite and terrestrial data links, support equipment/personnel, and crews for deployed 24-hour operations. MQ-9B debuted in combat in Afghanistan in 2007.
Extended Range (ER) mods added external fuel tanks, a four-bladed propeller, engine alcohol/water injection, heavyweight landing gear, longer wings and tail surfaces, and other enhancements in 2023. The latest Multi-Domain Operations (M2DO) configuration transitions the MQ-9 from counterinsurgency to future roles in or near contested airspace.
The M2DO flew for the first time in 2022, and retrofits are slated for fleetwide completion by FY26. M2DO adds enhanced data link and control robustness, plug-andplay system integration, and double the power to integrate future advanced sensors, systems, and algorithms. Other enhancements include antijam GPS, Link 16, internet-protocol and modular mission system architecture, enhanced C2 resiliency, and greater flight autonomy/automation. The System Lifecycle Agile Modernization (SLAM ) program will continuously upgrade the MQ-9 for emerging threats.
Reapers have recently demonstrated maritime support, C2, and ISR roles flying from forward operating locations in the Pacific. Efforts including the Automatic Takeoff and Land Capability (ATLC) and single operator control of up to three MQ-9s now allow it to operate from airfields worldwide without a line-of-sight ground station, vastly increasing its utility for Agile Combat Employment.
USAF retired all Block 1s and is divesting the highest-time Block 5 airframes through 2027, including six passed to the USMC. Plans call for retaining 140 Reapers through 2035, and USAF expects delivery of its final MQ-9 in 2025. At least three MQ-9s were lost in combat against Houthi rebels attacking shipping in the Red Sea in 2024, and a fourth was mistakenly shot down by U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria.
MQ-9 Reaper Technical Data
Contractors: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems; L3Harris; Raytheon (sensors).
First Flight: February 2001.
Delivered: November 2003-present.
IOC: October 2007; 2015 (ER).
Production: 338.
Inventory: 230.
Operator: ACC, AFMC, AFRC (associate), AFSOC, ANG.
Aircraft Location: Cannon AFB, N.M.; Creech AFB, Nev.; Eglin AFB, Fla.; Ellington Field, Texas; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; Hancock Field, N.Y.; Hector Arpt., N.D.; Holloman AFB, N.M.; March ARB, Calif.; Nellis AFB, Nev., and deployed locations worldwide. Planned: Tyndall AFB, Fla.; Whiteman AFB, Mo.
GCS Location: Cannon AFB, N.M.; Creech AFB, Nev.; Battle Creek ANGB, Mich.; Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.; Des Moines Arpt., Iowa; Ellington Field, Texas; Ellsworth AFB, S.D.; Fort Smith Arpt., Ark.; Hancock Field, N.Y.; Hector Arpt., N.D.; Holloman AFB, N.M.; Horsham AGS, Pa.; Hurlburt Field, Fla.; March ARB, Calif.; Springfield-Beckley Arpt., Ohio. Planned: Niagara Falls Arpt., N.Y.; Shaw AFB, S.C.; Tyndall AFB, Fla.; Whiteman AFB, Mo.
Active Variants: •MQ-9B Reaper Block 1. Air Force version of the General Atomics Predator B. •MQ-9B Reaper Block 5. Improved, current production Reaper. •MQ-9B Reaper ER. Extended-range MQ-9 with external fuel tanks, longer wings, and other enhancements.
Dimensions: Span 66 ft (79 ft, ER), length 36 ft, height 12.5 ft.
Weight: Max T-O 10,500 lb.
Power Plant: One Honeywell TPE331-10GD turboprop, max 900 shp.
Performance: Cruise speed 230 mph, range 1,150 miles, endurance 27 hr; 34 hr (ER).
Ceiling: 50,000 ft.
Armament: Combination of AGM-114 Hellfire (up to eight), GBU-12/49 Paveway II, and GBU-38 JDAMs.
Accommodation : Pilot, sensor operator (operating from GCS).
