The Air Force currently has 44 MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft in its inventory and has received funding through Fiscal 2010 to procure an additional 57 production-version MQ-9s, service spokesman Maj. Richard Johnson tells the Daily Report. As part of its Fiscal 2011 budget request to Congress, the Air Force has plans to procure an additional 240 MQ-9s through Fiscal 2015, which would bring the fleet size to 341, he says. This would enable the service to provide 65 MQ-9 combat air patrols, according to Johnson. He notes that follow-on MQ-9 purchases are subject to each fiscal year’s budget approval. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems builds the Reaper. These armed intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance assets have been serving in combat since September 2007 in Afghanistan and supporting operations in Iraq since July 2008. Johnson says MQ-9s are “significantly more capable” than the MQ-1 Predator RPA that they are supplanting.
Watchdog Says Military Can Make Cyber Ops More Efficient
Sept. 17, 2025
The Government Accountability Office called for paring down the military's sprawling cyber enterprise in a recent report, amid renewed discussion about standing up a separate cyber force.
