U.S. Loses Over $3 Billion Worth of MQ-9 Drones During Strikes on Iran
Middle East , Aircraft and Anti-Aircraft
Sources speaking to CBS News have reported that the U.S. Air Force has lost 24 MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft during engagements with Iranian forces. This represents a significant increase from the 16 that had been lost by the beginning of the month, with eight more reported to have been shot down from April 1-9. Losses in early April have reportedly been particularly concentrated around Shiraz and the island of Kish. The updated report on the number of MQ-9s shot down has closely coincided with the reported disappearance of an even higher value type of unmanned aircraft, a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton reconnaissance jet, which is valued at close to $250 million, fuelling speculation that it may also have been destroyed by Iranian forces.
MQ-9 Reaper drones have taken significant losses from the outset of hostilities with Iran, after the U.S. and Israel initiated a full scale assault on the country on February 28. Although they are far from expendable at close to $150 million each, the aircraft can be assigned higher risk missions, including conducting reconnaissance inside well defended Iranian airspace where there risks for manned aircraft are not considered acceptable. The increase in losses may reflect a growing willingness to deploy aircraft for high risk operations, in large part due to the rapid depletion of U.S. and Israeli beyond visual range missile arsenals, which has resulted in a need to strike targets with lower cost shorter ranged munitions.
Two of the MQ-9s shot down were among the ten aircraft lost during efforts to recover two airmen who had parachuted into Iran, after their F-15E fighter was itself shot down. Israeli Heron drones and United Arab Emirates Wing Loong II drones, which are both relied on for comparable roles, have also been lost, the former in considerable numbers. The MQ-9 previously made headlines 2023-2024 for the significant numbers that were shot down by Yemeni Ansuruallah Coalition paramilitary units, with over ten reported to have been destroyed in the theatre over a period of little over a year. The Iranian conflict has raised further serious questions regarding the aircraft’s survivability and cost effectiveness, particularly if facing more capable potential adversaries such as China or North Korea.
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