Capabilities of MQ-9 Reaper see full effect under key combat concept

An MQ-9 Reaper conducts the first MQ-9 landing on a dirt landing zone during a training exercise June 15. The nighttime landing on an unimproved surface was part of a larger Air Force Special Operations Command exercise involving members of the 26th Special Tactics Squadron. [US Air Force]

The MQ-9 Reaper is the US Air Force's workhorse offensive strike unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It is capable of remotely controlled surveillance, strike and reconnaissance operations against high-value and mobile targets.

Its capabilities enable the US Air Force's Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept, the service's most recent doctrine.

ACE is a vision of using agile tactics to respond to modern contested environments. The concept shifts operations from focusing on large, centralized physical infrastructure to smaller, dispersed sites or cluster bases.

This concept enhances the US Air Force's flexibility, adaptability and responsiveness, enabling it to both better strike and pursue adversary targets and to minimize adversary threat capabilities through decentralizing and mobilizing operations.

An MQ-9 Reaper, piloted by the 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), fires a Hellfire missile last August 30. The 556th TES performs all software and physical testing to improve the combat capabilities of the MQ-9 Reaper. [US Air Force]

Further, the ACE concept prizes adaptable aircraft and weapon systems that can be quickly deployed to short, remote airfields and are easily maintained.

Given its versatility and design, the MQ-9 is a UAV distinctly suited to the ACE concept.

Larger and heavier than its predecessor, the MQ-1, the MQ-9 can carry more munitions and has increased speed and high-definition sensors, enhancing its strike and support capabilities.

The MQ-9's 900 shaft horsepower (671-kW) engine has more than eight times the thrust of the MQ-1 engine's. The Reaper possesses a wingspan of 66 feet (20 meters) and can carry payloads of up to 3,750 pounds (1,700kg).

It is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance and can operate armed for up to 40 hours.

The Reaper can loiter at altitudes of 50,000 feet (15,240 meters), double the flight ceiling of its MQ-1 predecessor, for more than 27 hours at a time.

Durability and maintenance

The flexibility offered by the MQ-9 is central to the US Air Force's ACE concept. It is a drone that marries intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance abilities with close air support and offensive strike capabilities.

Since 2021, the US Air Force has maintained a fleet of more than 300 MQ-9 Reapers with fully developed ground control, communication and spare-parts inventory.

These are all core facets in executing the ACE concept, which demands readily available and repairable aircraft supported by robust communications as well as command and control (C2) systems.

This system is complemented by the wide variety of precision munitions that the MQ-9 can carry, ranging from the 100-pound (45kg) AGM-114 Hellfire missiles to laser guided bombs such as the GBU-12 Paveway II, the GBU-49 Enhanced Paveway II, the GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions and GBU-54 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions.

The variety of armaments carried allows ground crews at multiple locations to rearm the MQ-9, fulfilling the ACE concept's focus on aircraft that can be readily equipped from anywhere in the world.

The ACE concept also prizes the MQ-9's ability to conduct both takeoff and landing from short fields, making the Reaper ideal for operations in contested environments. Its design is such that it can be efficiently disassembled and packed into a single container for deployment around the world.

Already integral to US Air Force air operations, the versatile MQ-9 offers numerous advantages to empower the United States and its allies via the ACE concept.