American unmanned aerial vehicle, notable for extensive use in Middle East conflicts since the 21st century. Key figures: top speed 300 km/h, range 1,850 km, service ceiling 15,000 m, max takeoff weight 4,760 kg, unit price $30M, built 300. In service with 5 air forces as of 2026 — United States (135), France (12), Italy (4) and 2 others.
| Length | 11 m (36.1 ft) |
| Wingspan | 20 m (65.6 ft) |
| Empty weight | 2,223 kg (4,901 lbs) |
| Max. takeoff weight | 4,760 kg (10,494 lbs) |
| Powerplant | 1 × Honeywell TPE331-10GD turboprop engine |
| Maximum speed | 300 km/h (186 mph) |
| Operational range | 1,850 km (1,150 mi) |
| Endurance | 27 hours |
| Service ceiling | 15,000 m (49,213 ft) |
Italy
×2
Two MQ-9A Block 5 Reapers ordered from General Atomics through US Foreign Military Sales, for delivery at the end of 2027.
Ordered
United States
Reaper downed over Khomein minutes before a ballistic-missile salvo, Iranian media say; US has not confirmed the loss.
Shot down
United States
IRGC says a Reaper was hit by missile fire over the Strait of Hormuz and fell into the Gulf; no US confirmation.
Shot down
United States
IRGC claimed shootdown near Qeshm Island in Hormozgan province; unconfirmed by US officials.
Shot down
United States
×9
Nine further Reapers lost beyond the individually documented losses; the war total is put at at least 45, about a quarter of the fleet.
Other
The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, also known as Predator B, is an American medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), primarily for the United States Air Force. First flown on 2 February 2001 and introduced on 1 May 2007, it is described by the USAF as the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance surveillance. Some 575 had been built as of 2026 for the USAF, US Customs and Border Protection, the US Marine Corps and a dozen foreign operators; the USAF fleet, over 300 aircraft in May 2021, is projected to leave service in 2035.
The proof-of-concept Predator B-001 flew on 2 February 2001 with an AlliedSignal Garrett TPE331-10T turboprop of 710 kW (950 shp), an enlarged Predator fuselage and a wing stretched from 15 m (48 ft) to 20 m (66 ft). The USAF contracted for B-001 and B-002 as YMQ-9 evaluation aircraft in October 2001 and received them in 2002.
The fleet grew from nine aircraft in October 2007 to 57 in December 2010 and 287 of 366 on contract by 2018, against a programme total of 433 including foreign sales. The upgraded Block 1-plus flew on 24 May 2012 and passed Milestone C that September as the MQ-9 Block 5; the USAF ordered 24 for US$377.4 million on 15 October 2013. The service has also bought 38 Reaper Extended Range aircraft, first flown operationally in August 2015. For certified civil airspace GA-ASI developed the MQ-9B SkyGuardian to NATO STANAG 4671, which made the first transatlantic flight by a MALE UAV, to RAF Fairford, on 15 July 2018. As of 2026 the Pentagon plans to phase the Reaper out in favour of cheaper armed surveillance drones.
The MQ-9A is 11 m (36 ft 1 in) long with a 20 m (65 ft 7 in) span, an empty weight of 2,223 kg (4,901 lb) and a maximum take-off weight of 4,760 kg (10,494 lb). Its Honeywell TPE331-10 turboprop of 710 kW (950 shp) gives a maximum speed of about 480 km/h (260 kn), a range of 1,850 km (1,000 nmi) and an operational altitude of 7,600 m (25,000 ft). Endurance is 27 hours clean and 23 hours with a full weapons load; the Reaper ER's external tanks, four-blade propeller and alcohol-water injection stretch it to 33–35 hours.
The aircraft is flown from a Ground Control Station by a pilot, a sensor operator and a mission intelligence coordinator. Its Raytheon AN/DAS-1 MTS-B Multi-Spectral Targeting System combines daylight and image-intensified television, infrared and a laser rangefinder/designator, and the GA-ASI Lynx AN/APY-8 radar provides spotlight and strip synthetic aperture imaging, ground moving-target indication and maritime wide-area search. The MQ-9B is 11.7 m (38 ft 5 in) long with a 24 m (79 ft) winglet-tipped wing, lightning protection, de-icing and sense-and-avoid equipment, a 5,670 kg (12,500 lb) take-off weight, nine hardpoints and more than 40 hours of endurance; the SeaGuardian adds a Leonardo Seaspray 7500E V2 AESA radar in a centreline pod, AIS and up to four sonobuoy dispenser pods.
The MQ-9A carries 1,700 kg (3,800 lb) of payload, 360 kg (800 lb) internally and 1,400 kg (3,000 lb) on seven hardpoints, the inboard pair rated at 680 kg (1,500 lb) each. Standard loads are up to eight AGM-114 Hellfires, or four Hellfires with two 230 kg (500 lb) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs; the GBU-38 JDAM, GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb and AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II are also cleared. In late 2025 USAF Reapers flew operational sorties with six to ten Hellfires on multi-rail launchers. The MQ-9B carries up to ten Brimstone missiles or Paveway IV bombs, and the RAF's Protector RG1 up to eighteen Brimstone 3s or Paveway IVs.
The USAF activated the 432nd Wing at Creech AFB, Nevada, on 1 May 2007 and flew Reapers over Iraq and Afghanistan that summer; the first strike, a Hellfire against insurgents at Deh Rawood in Oruzgan province, came on 28 October 2007. The New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing began converting from the F-16 in 2008, and Reapers flew from Balad in Iraq from 17 July 2008. A Reaper killed the commander of Iran's Quds Force at Baghdad airport on 3 January 2020, and on 14 March 2023 a Russian Su-27 struck the propeller of an MQ-9 over the Black Sea, forcing it down in international waters. Houthi air defences first downed one over Sanaa on 1 October 2017, two more in 2019 and many from November 2023, with at least seven lost between 15 March and 25 April 2025 alone.
The heaviest attrition in the type's history came with the war with Iran. US officials told the Washington Post in August 2026 that at least 45 Reapers had been lost since the war began — roughly a quarter of the fleet and more than 1.3 billion dollars of airframes — counting both combat losses and non-combat write-offs, including aircraft that crashed after their control links failed. Losses have been concentrated around the Strait of Hormuz, where the Reaper's low operating altitude and slow cruise leave it exposed to Iranian air defences. Some US aircraft were destroyed on the ground by Iranian missile and drone attacks, which also destroyed an Italian MQ-9 at Ali Al Salem in Kuwait on 15 March 2026; Iran downed a Reaper during the ceasefire on 26 May 2026. By September 2026, 48 US MQ-9s had been reported lost in the war.
The RAF bought its first two in 2006, flew them in Afghanistan from November 2007 with No. 39 and later No. XIII Squadron, used them against Islamic State from October 2014 and retired them in September 2025 for sixteen MQ-9B Protector RG1s at RAF Waddington. Italy ordered six MQ-9As in 2008–2009; France ordered sixteen in August 2013 and fields MQ-9A ERs at Cognac; the Netherlands, Spain and Poland also fly MQ-9As. MQ-9B customers include Belgium (four, first delivered in summer 2025), Canada (eleven for CA$2.49 billion, deliveries from 2028), India (31 ordered on 15 October 2024 for ₹28,350 crore), Taiwan (four, two received in March 2026) and the Japan Coast Guard (three SeaGuardians since October 2022).
A Department of Defense inspector general report on Operation Epic Fury, made public September 15, lists four F-15Es, one A-10, six helicopters, an MQ-4C and as many as 30 MQ-9 Reapers destroyed between February 28 and June 30, 2026, in an operation costed at $33.4 billion.
GlobalMilitary.net has logged 50 US uncrewed aircraft lost in 34 events between January 1 and September 9, 2026, 48 of them MQ-9 Reapers and all attached to the Iran conflict; on September 8 Iran said it had recovered a US Navy underwater drone at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, the US Air Force's Chief Modernization Officer, told a Pentagon roundtable on September 3, 2026 that the Massed Modular Aircraft should cost about $10 million per airframe before mission equipment, with an initial fleet of 20 now wanted within roughly three years.
General Atomics has entered a clean-sheet drone called Wildfire into the Pentagon's Massed Modular Aircraft competition to replace the MQ-9 Reaper, a fleet that fell from 231 aircraft to 165 this year after 46 US Reaper losses in the war with Iran.
GlobalMilitary.net's conflict tracker has logged 129 aircraft destroyed since the war began on February 28, 2026. Uncrewed aircraft account for 60 of them, and a single type, the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, for 36.
