The Hellfire-Armed Reaper Drone Has Performed Spectacularly in Combat, but Questions Remain

Video Above: US Sends Drone Boats to Ukraine

*Republishing for viewer interest

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

The future of the Air Force’s medium altitude MQ-9 Reaper drone continues to generate substantial deliberation and debate among sensor weapons developers and members of Congress attempting to discern the optimal path forward for the platform given the changing threat environment.

The thrust of the debate centers around the question of survivability, meaning is the larger, non-stealthy Reaper viable and survivable enough to remain effective in high-end, contested environments where adversaries possess advanced air defenses and long-range sensors?

MQ-9 Reaper Drone

The Reaper has performed in a spectacular and impactful way for many years, particularly when it comes to counterinsurgency and counterterrorism missions. The Hellfire-armed Reaper drone has for years been effective in killing terrorists with precision strikes and maintaining that crucial “persistent stare” ISR capacity above high threat areas.

Addressing members of Congress during a House Appropriations Committee-Defense budget hearing, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Charles Brown spoke about having the right mix of capabilities as it relates to a needed balancing act between maintaining and upgrading the current fleet and keeping pace with new threats.