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Q-9

Latest in Q-9

Faced with mounting losses fighting Iran, the Air Force is bying unused Reapers from General Atomics.
Q-9

USAF Scrambling To Buy What Few MQ-9 Reapers It Can Find After Epic Fury Losses

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 5, 2026

Modularity is a key area of interest as the U.S. Air Force formulates its latest set of requirements for a successor to the MQ-9 Reaper, according to Gen. John Lamontagne, the service's Vice Chief of Staff.
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USAF Wants “MQ-9 Next” Reaper Replacement To Be Modular, Cheap

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 4, 2026

An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft piloted by Airmen from the 556 Test and Evaluation Squadron flies over the Nevada Test and Training Range and performs live-fire exercises with Air-to-Ground Missile-114 Hellfire missiles and Guided Bomb Unit-12 Paveway IIs, Aug. 30, 2023. The 556 TES performs all software and physical testing to improve the combat capabilities of the MQ-9 Reaper.
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MQ-9 Reaper Replacement Requirements Stress A Drone Cheap Enough To Risk Losing

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on May 13, 2026

The MQ-9 Reaper has become the latest platform to test-fire the laser-guided 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) rocket. The trials, conducted with the U.S. Air Force, involved the MQ-9 employing the APKWS in its original air-to-ground capacity, as well as against aerial targets.
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MQ-9 Reaper Fires Laser-Guided Rockets In Tests

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Updated on May 11, 2026

MQ-9 being turned into cruise missile truck.

General Atomics Is Turning The MQ-9 Reaper Family Of Drones Into “Cruise Missile Trucks”

By The War Zone staff

Posted on Feb 24, 2026

Evidence that the United States employed AGM-114 Hellfire or AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) missiles in a covert strike on a target in Venezuela has now emerged.
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Missile Fragments Add To Evidence MQ-9 Reaper Drone Carried Out Venezuela Strike

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 2, 2026

Over the past week or so, U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones have been spotted carrying increasingly greater numbers of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles on sorties from Puerto Rico.
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MQ-9 Reapers Flying With Unusually Heavy Weapons Loads Over Caribbean

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 30, 2025

Leidos has raised the possibility of eventually integrating its Black Arrow, also known as the Small Cruise Missile, in the MQ-9 Reaper drone and the OA-1K Skyraider II light attack aircraft. The roughly 200-pound munition has, so far, been tested from C-130 variants but offers the kinds of capabilities that U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is increasingly looking at harnessing.
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Tiny Black Arrow Cruise Missile Demonstrates A Whopping 400-Mile Range

By Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Updated on Sep 24, 2025

A member of Congress has shared a video claiming to show an attempt by U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones to intercept an unidentified object in the air off the coast of Yemen last year.
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Revelation That MQ-9 Reapers Are Now Engaging Aerial Targets Comes From UAP Hearing

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 9, 2025

The latest addition to General Atomics' MQ-9B medium-altitude long-endurance drone family is set to be an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) configured version.
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MQ-9B Airborne Early Warning Variant Could Fill Major Aerial Surveillance Gaps

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jun 17, 2025

A Prediator-B drone, most likely operated by Customs and Border Protection, flew deep into Mexico on Wednesday.
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Department Of Homeland Security Predator B Drones Are Orbiting Over Los Angeles

By Howard Altman, Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jun 11, 2025

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded General Atomics a contract for work on what is described as a "hybrid-electric propulsion ducted fan next-generation intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance/strike unmanned aerial system," or GHOST.
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Hybrid-Electric GHOST Strike-Recon Drone In The Works For USAF

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 28, 2025

AGM114R9X seen in action for the first time
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Bladed ‘Ginsu’ Hellfire Missile Seen In Action For First Time

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Mar 1, 2025

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is reportedly flying unarmed MQ-9 Reapers inside Mexican airspace to snoop on drug cartels.
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CIA MQ-9 Reapers Are Covertly Spying On Mexican Drug Cartels: Reports

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Feb 18, 2025

MQ-9 showcases capabilities to Joint Force during first-time Valiant Shield participation.
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MQ-9 Reapers Gathered In Florida, Simulated Fighting Over South China Sea

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 13, 2024

General Atomics has revealed a new fifth member of its Gambit modular drone family that is carrier-capable and that could represent a step forward in a broader naval aviation vision for the United Kingdom and other countries.
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New Carrier-Based Version Of The Gambit Family Of Combat Drones Is In The Works

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 23, 2024