Why It Matters
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) published "Air Force MQ-9A Reaper: Background and Issues for Congress" on Sept. 23, raising questions about whether the U.S. Air Force can sustain its drone combat capability amid active conflict.
The Air Force's inventory of MQ-9A Reapers stood at 135 aircraft as of May 2026, down from a peak of 351 in fiscal year 2022, a decline driven by deliberate divestiture of older variants, accidents, and combat losses. An August 2026 news article, citing U.S. government sources, reported that 45 MQ-9A Reapers were lost in operations against Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military operation against Iran in 2026.
The MQ-9A production line is closed, and a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems official told CRS it would take two to three years to restart, foreclosing any near-term option to replenish losses.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth indicated in a July 2026 statement to the Senate Appropriations Committee that an unspecified portion of a supplemental funding request would be spent on "MQ-9 platforms," though some members of Congress have asked for a "detailed accounting" of how those supplemental funds would be allocated.
The Big Picture
In congressional testimony in May 2026, Air Force Chief of Staff General Kenneth Wilsbach described the MQ-9A as "maybe the most valuable player" of Operation Epic Fury, while another Air Force official said the service was "concerned about how they've attrited." Despite that pressure, an Air Force official testified that the service could still meet its requirement for 56 combat lines at 135 aircraft.
The Air Force's proposed successor, the Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA), is envisioned as a Group 5 drone costing approximately $10 million per unit, compared with between $30 million and $50 million for the Reaper. The Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit released a commercial solicitation in July 2026 and plan to select up to four prototype developers by the end of 2026, with procurement funding sought in the fiscal year 2028 budget. General Atomics has publicly criticized the $10 million per-unit cost target as unrealistic.
The Air Force's fiscal year 2027 budget request included $766.2 million in procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation funding for the MQ-9A but did not request funding for new MQ-9As or for the MMA program itself.
The House-passed fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), H.R. 8800, would prohibit MQ-9A retirement until a certified replacement achieves initial operational capability, while the Senate Armed Services Committee-reported version, S. 4784, would prohibit the Air Force Secretary from divesting or reducing MQ-9 inventory until September 30, 2031.
The Bottom Line
Congress is moving on multiple legislative tracks to constrain the Air Force's ability to reduce its MQ-9 fleet as the service pursues a replacement aircraft. Whether the Trump administration's supplemental funding request and the MMA solicitation can close that gap before statutory restrictions lock in the current fleet size is the question lawmakers and Pentagon planners will face heading into the fiscal year 2028 budget cycle.
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