MQ-9 Reaper
Country: 
United StatesManufacturer: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)
The MQ-9 Reaper is the world's most iconic armed MALE drone: General Atomics' hunter-killer redefined UCAV warfare with Hellfire precision strikes across Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Africa, becoming the symbol of the US drone program.
The MQ-9 Reaper is the world's most iconic armed MALE drone: General Atomics' hunter-killer redefined UCAV warfare with Hellfire precision strikes across Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Africa, becoming the symbol of the US drone program.
Community
Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- MQ-9 Reaper
- Alias
- General Atomics Predator B
- Manufacturer
- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)
- Country
- United States
- Year
- 2007
- Category
- UCAV (Combat UAV)
- Class
- MALE (Medium-altitude / long-endurance)
- Status
- In service
Performance
- Range
- 1850 km
- Endurance
- 27 h
- Top speed
- 482 km/h
- Service ceiling
- 15,240 m
- Propulsion
- Turboelica Honeywell TPE331-10, 900 shp
Physical characteristics
- MTOW
- 4760 kg
- Payload
- 1700 kg
- Hardpoints
- 7
- Weapons
- AGM-114 Hellfire, GBU-12 Paveway II, GBU-38 JDAM, AIM-9X
Onboard systems
- Sensors
- MTS-B EO/IR, radar SAR Lynx, SIGINT, designatore laser
- Datalink / control
- SATCOM Ku-band beyond-line-of-sight + LOS C-band
- Launch
- Decollo da pista
- Recovery
- Atterraggio su pista
Production & inventory
- Annual production
- ~24 unità/anno
- Estimated inventory
- ~300 in servizio (USA, UK, Italia, Francia, Spagna, Paesi Bassi)
Combat use
- ▸Afghanistan and Iraq (2007-2021) — Hellfire strikes against Taliban and ISIS leadership
- ▸Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Niger (2010-) — AFRICOM and CENTCOM counter-terrorism campaigns
- ▸Baghdad strike (January 2020) — elimination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani
- ▸Black Sea (March 2023) — incident with Russian Su-27s over international waters
- ▸Yemen (2024-) — multiple shoot-downs by the Houthis during Operation Prosperity Guardian
Tags
Main operators
History
An evolution of the MQ-1 Predator, the Reaper first flew in 2001 and entered USAF service in 2007. Its TPE331 turboprop and 1,700 kg payload turned it from an ISR platform into a true hunter-killer.
In 2020 a USAF MQ-9 carried out the Baghdad strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, one of the most high-profile UAV attacks in history.
On the development side, the MQ-9 Reaper is the milestone of the US armed-drone program: General Atomics turned the Predator B with a Honeywell TPE331-10 turboprop into a 4.7-tonne MALE hunter-killer, able to carry 14 Hellfire missiles or combinations with JDAM and Paveway, with 27 hours endurance at 50,000 ft.
On the UCAV-warfare front, the Reaper has logged millions of counter-terrorism hours over Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and the Sahel and has become the ultimate search keyword in the military-drone world: 'MQ-9 Reaper', 'Reaper Hellfire drone', 'armed Predator B'.
The MQ-9B SeaGuardian/SkyGuardian family extends the platform into maritime ISR (India, UK, Japan) with SeaSpray 7500E radar and anti-submarine capability through sonobuoys.