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Air Force Rushes to Build New Drone After Losing Many Reapers
The U.S. Air Force is speeding up plans for a cheap, new drone to replace the MQ-9 Reaper following a high number of losses, specifically near Iran.
An MQ-9 Reaper drone flying in the sky.
By John Doe
Reporting from United States of America 
Sept. 5, 2026, 12:51 a.m. - 4 hours ago
The U.S. Air Force has a big problem. They are losing their famous MQ-9 Reaper drones too often. These drones are used for watching enemies from the sky and sometimes firing weapons.
Lately, many of these drones have been shot down or lost, especially during tensions involving Iran. In fact, reports say about 25% of the fleet has been lost since the fighting began. Because of this, the Air Force is now in a hurry to build a replacement.
The Air Force wants a new drone that is much cheaper to build. They are aiming for a price tag of about $10 million per drone. For comparison, the Reaper is much more expensive.
The new goal is to make these drones simpler and easier to produce. The Air Force had actually shut down the Reaper production line last year, but now they need something new to fill the gap. The new drones will also need to fly very far—up to 14,800 kilometers—to make sure they can reach targets anywhere in the world.
Officials say they are moving as fast as they can to get these new drones into the air. They want to make sure the military still has eyes in the sky without having to worry so much about losing very expensive equipment.
Source: Breaking Defense
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