8/17/2023 0 Comments Mq 9 reaperUsing a baseball analogy, Roper said he wants to see the replacement platform be a true utility player. If the new drone is “another mouth to feed and it’s not helping us with high-end warfighting, then it’s not likely to be first in the queue,” he said. The Department of the Air Force has a number of expensive programs on its shopping list as it pursues an ambitious modernization strategy that includes fifth-generation fighters, a new nuclear-capable stealth bomber and ground-based strategic deterrent, space systems superiority and joint all-domain command and control. “If all we do is replace the MQ-9 mission, we really generated a bill for the Air Force.” “We’re going to have to explore more than just the MQ-9 mission or else we’re not going to be able to create enough of an asset within the Air Force budget itself to afford to pursue the program,” he said. Responses were due in late July and a number of major defense companies responded.Īffordability and versatility will be key as the Air Force looks for the Reaper’s replacement, Roper noted. In June, the Air Force released a request for information to industry seeking input about a new medium-altitude drone, with particular focus on innovative development and business practices, and digital engineering initiatives. The move to acquire a new platform - the second such effort for the Air Force following a canceled program known as MQ-X in 2012 - comes as the Pentagon shifts to great power competition with advanced adversaries Russia and China, as outlined in the 2018 National Defense Strategy. The service is now pursuing a replacement system dubbed the MQ-Next. “We made the pivot to divest MQ-9s to pivot into high-end warfighting,” said Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, during a press briefing in July. The service signaled its intent in President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2021 budget request by zeroing out its proposed buys of MQ-9s as it pursues a follow-on aircraft, though legislators may push back on the move. But officials say it is time for a new platform that can take on those same missions and more. The Reaper - which is larger and carries more payload than its predecessor the MQ-1 Predator - provides the military with a “hunter-killer” capability by executing both strike and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection functions. But with the Pentagon preparing for future fights in contested, non-permissive environments against peer adversaries, the service is beginning its search for the aircraft’s replacement. The General Atomics-built MQ-9 Reaper - a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle with millions of hours of operation under its belt - has had a ubiquitous presence over battlefields in the Middle East.
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