Air Force Establishes Requirements for New Unmanned Aircraft to Succeed MQ-9 Reaper

Air Force Maj. Gen. Christopher Niemi signed out requirements on Monday for a new platform to replace the MQ-9A Reaper. The MQ-9A Reaper has been in service since 2007. Niemi, the military deputy for Air Force Futures, said the new unmanned aircraft must consist of open architectures, be easily mass produced and have a higher tolerance for attrition.

The MQ-9, depending on sensors, can cost up to $50 million a copy. Niemi was recently nominated to become the service’s first chief modernization officer. He told lawmakers the new platform would be cheaper per unit and modular so that expensive sensor packages could be removed in a high-threat environment to drive the cost to a much lower price point.

“The MQ-9 is serving us well over in the conflict that’s ongoing in the Middle East. ” The Air Force released a request for information targeting an attritable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drone approximately a month ago.

Over 50 vendors responded to the request. Air Force Lt. Gen. Luke Cropsey, the Air Force’s military deputy for acquisitions, said there is burgeoning interest across the broader defense industrial base.

“There is, I think, a burgeoning interest across the broader defense industrial base on what comes next. And I think we have enough interest to really get some interesting proposals back,” Cropsey said. Niemi and Cropsey testified together before the Senate Armed Services Airland subcommittee on Tuesday.

U.S. Marine Corps MQ-9A Reaper assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One staged during an Unmanned Aerial System exercise as part of Weapons and Tactics Instructor course 2-26 at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona, on April 4, 2026. The Reaper, along with its variants, has been used for nearly 20 years by the US and partner military and intelligence outfits for ISR as well as direct strike missions.

The Reaper has been used especially over the Middle East and Southwest Asia during the Global War on Terror. Several MQ-9 Reapers have been lost in recent combat in missions over Yemen and Iran. Breaking Defense reported that the aircraft is serving in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The losses have raised questions about the Reaper’s survivability against sophisticated air defenses even as the service moves to replenish combat losses while developing its successor.