GA-ASI MQ-9 Reaper

So? Reapers are a completely non-stealthy drone that costs a couple million dollars and has a design that is 20 years old or more.
 
TomcatViP said:
The video of the alleged missile launch posted shows a hit at a much lower altitude than where a Reaper is supposed to fly.
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Which would make it even more vulnerable.

Again, it's a Reaper, the things barely cost more than a Tomahawk. (Unit price appears to be for 4x craft plus ground stations) Who cares if we lost one?
 
Could be a Predator and not a Reaper. The wreckage would look roughly the same in small parts with no representation of scale.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Which would make it even more vulnerable.

Again, it's a Reaper, the things barely cost more than a Tomahawk. (Unit price appears to be for 4x craft plus ground stations) Who cares if we lost one?
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A Reaper is at least 30 million dollars.
A Tomahawk is 2 million.
 
chimeric oncogene said:
A Reaper is at least 30 million dollars.
A Tomahawk is 2 million.
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4x Reapers plus the ground control station is $56mil. Reapers are about $8mil each, ground station is ~$24mil.

And the new high end Tomahawk Block Vs are about $4mil.


Forest Green said:
At the end of the day, no pilots were killed, which are the most expensive thing.
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And no critical classified technology was lost, which is the other expensive thing.
 
Oh, wow, I didn't know the cost had come down that far. I mean, 8 million for a Reaper is a steal, especially in today's money!
They should really expand those ground stations or centralize operations to cut down costs further! Can you fly more Reapers per station?
That's a ridiculous marginal cost!
 
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chimeric oncogene said:
Oh, wow, I didn't know the cost had come down that far. I mean, 4 million for a Reaper is a steal, especially in today's money!
They should really expand those ground stations or centralize operations to cut down costs further! Can you fly more Reapers per station?
That's a ridiculous marginal cost!
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I think each control station is limited to flying one Reaper/Predator/Gray Eagle at a time, but they can be set up to trade between aircraft in a chain: one control station is for takeoff and landing, maybe a bit more distance away from the airfield; then they trade off with a second control station farther out that might not be the one controlling the drones over the battlefield; etc.
 
So some funny stuff happend today. The Hessen (german ship of the F-124 class) has shot 2 SM-2 Block IIIA against an MQ-9 which was there for an counter terror op and had its IFF turned off & operational command (presumably EUNAVFOR Aspides) was unaware of its presence. But it survived because both SM-2 failed as they Had a "technical Error".
 
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Sub-hunting MQ-9? Seems like a pretty good idea to me to supplement the P-8 and other ASW assets. Can loiter for a good while and if the theoretical scenario of a submarine launching off a SAM ever happens losing one of these is a lot better than losing a P-8 or MH-60 and its crew.
 
GTX said:
Photos from Singapore Air Show - note pods:

View attachment 721292

View attachment 721293
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Is that 4x sonobuoy pods?

The challenge would be packing a couple of torpedoes, the middle wing stations can only hold 750lbs and that's right at the edge of a Mk54+parachute pack, not counting the high-altitude glide pack from the P8.

Of course, the Reaper can more easily drop down to low level without burning absurd amounts of fuel since it's a turboprop.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Is that 4x sonobuoy pods?

The challenge would be packing a couple of torpedoes, the middle wing stations can only hold 750lbs and that's right at the edge of a Mk54+parachute pack, not counting the high-altitude glide pack from the P8.

Of course, the Reaper can more easily drop down to low level without burning absurd amounts of fuel since it's a turboprop.
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It's not meant to be a hunter-killer, more as a complement to manned platforms in the sensor deployment role. Yes, 4 pods, each of which can launch 10 A-size buoys or 20 G-size dwarf buoys, so potentially up to 80 total (the USN only uses A-size but other navies use the smaller ones).

It's intended mainly as a sensor adjunct to a manned platform carrying weapons. If you wanted to arm a drone this size, I think you'd need to look at mini-torpedoes rather than lightweights.

Heres an article fomr a couple of years ago about this:
www.ga.com

GA-ASI Completes Unmanned Aircraft Anti-Submarine Warfare Demonstration of Sonobuoy Dispensing and Remote Processing

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) recently completed development and test of the world’s first self-contained Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability for an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).
www.ga.com
 
TomS said:
It's intended mainly as a sensor adjunct to a manned platform carrying weapons. If you wanted to arm a drone this size, I think you'd need to look at mini-torpedoes rather than lightweights.
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And honestly, I'm not convinced that modern lightweight torpedoes are capable of doing more than chasing a submarine. Starting to think that the USN needs to put 21" torpedoes on surface ships and aircraft again, to use as ASW shots.
 
www.ga-asi.com

GA-ASI Tests Sonobuoy Dispensing System with MQ-9B SeaGuardian

On Feb. 27, 2024, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), in cooperation with the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), conducted a series of tests on GA-ASI’s Sonobuoy Dispensing System (SDS) using the MQ-9B SeaGuardian® Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) on the U.S. Navy’s W-291 test...
www.ga-asi.com
 

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