Latest news with #MQ9Reaper
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
The reign of the Reaper drone may be coming to an end
Threats to medium-altitude drones like the MQ-9 Reaper are growing. These types of drones are suffering mounting losses in wars from Ukraine to Yemen. These persistent and armed eyes in the sky face a cost-benefit dilemma. In the Global War on Terror, America's MQ-9 Reaper was the most terrifying weapon. Armed with missiles and able to stay in the air for 24 hours, the Reaper — and its older cousin, the MQ-1 Predator — became the symbols of Drone Age remote-control warfare. But the skies are not so Reaper-friendly anymore. The Reaper built by General Atomics has a 66-foot wingspan is almost double that of small, crewed planes like the Cessna 172. Many of these big and expensive drones — the Reaper costs $30 million — have been shot down over Yemen, Lebanon, and Ukraine. This has some experts questioning whether militaries like that of the UK should stop buying expensive Medium-Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones such as the Reaper. Better to purchase smaller, cheaper drones they can afford to lose, their thinking goes. "MALE drones can provide persistent surveillance, including through clouds with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), but only if they can survive," wrote military researcher Robert Tollast in an essay for the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. "And as that survivability is now highly questionable, it seems that the UK must look for alternative approaches." At least 15 Reapers have been shot down by Houthi rebels over Yemen since October 2023, with seven destroyed in March and April 2025, estimated losses at or above $500 million. The threat to the Reapers would likely be much greater against a more advanced military, which fields larger and more accurate air defenses. Houthi air defenses are far from cutting edge: old Soviet-made SA-2 and SA-6 missiles date back to the 1960s, or are Iranian weapons based on those designs. In the Ukraine war, Ukraine's Turkish-made TB2 Bayraktar drones — armed with laser-guided anti-tank missiles — initially devastated Russian armored columns that invaded in February 2022. But dozens of TB2s were destroyed once Russian air defenses were deployed, and the Bayraktar has disappeared from Ukrainian skies. Meanwhile, Israel's Hermes drones have fallen victim to Hezbollah anti-aircraft missiles. This has left Britain in a quandary. The British Army's MALE drone, the Watchkeeper, has proven a failure. Based on Israel's Hermes 450, the Watchkeeper produced by Thales Group and Elbit Systems first flew in 2010, but wasn't deployed until 2018. Delays, technical issues and several crashes spurred the retirement of the Watchkeeper fleet in March, less than seven years after it was fielded. "We are getting rid of Watchkeeper because that system has been in service since 2010 and, according to all the military chiefs, is out of date," Lord Vernon Croaker, a senior official in the Ministry of Defense, told the House of Commons in November 2024. With a range of almost 100 miles, the Watchkeeper could peer deep into enemy areas and locate supply depots, airbases and other targets for long-range artillery, missiles and aircraft. Thus the British Army is now embarked on Project Corvus, which calls for a long-endurance surveillance drone that can stay airborne for 24 hours and fly deep penetration missions. But this may only result in another MALE drone too expensive to buy in quantity, and too vulnerable to be expendable. These same issues threaten the Reaper ($30 million) and the Bayraktar TB-2 ($5 million). "Assessments in Ukraine would suggest that the point at which a UAV becomes attritable is a unit price below $200,000 for ISR [surveillance missions]," Tollast wrote. This creates a cost-benefit dilemma. Hordes of cheap, expendable first-person view (FPV) drones have become the dominant weapon in the Ukraine war, paralyzing bold battlefield maneuvers and practically driving armored vehicles off the battlefield. These are mass-produced commercial drones that can be rigged for military missions at a total cost of hundreds of dollars. Most of these have limited payload capacity, altitude and a range of only around 10 miles. On the other end of the spectrum is the airliner-sized RQ-4 Global Hawk, a high-altitude $200 million drone that is being retired from the US military. A Global Hawk was destroyed by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile in 2019. In the middle are the drones like the Reaper, which can carry a 2-ton payload of missiles and sensors, has a range of 1,200 miles, and can fly at 50,000 feet. The Reapers were essential aircraft in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as they could stay in the air hunting for targets far longer than a crewed aircraft, and be placed in more dangerous airspace because there was no risk to a human flier. For example, from September 2007 to July 2008, MQ-9 flew 480 sorties totaling more than 3,800 hours in Afghanistan. In many ways, these UAVs resemble the earliest drones, which were just modified versions of manned aircraft. For example, World War II F6F Hellcat fighters converted into remote-controlled machines for target practice. The AQM-34L Firebee that flew reconnaissance missions over Vietnam was 29 feet long, not much shorter than an MQ-9. They face a glaring problem: more adversaries are armed with air defense missiles capable of knocking out aircraft-sized drones. Drones like the MQ-9 were not designed to fly in areas covered by an enemy's surface-to-air missiles. A Bayraktar's cruise speed is only 80 miles per hour, while even a relatively speedy Reaper has a cruise speed of around 200 miles per hour. Thus even a militant group like the Houthis can down an MQ-9 with an old Soviet SA-6 surface-to-air missile. This puts drones at a fork in the road — go low-cost and large volume or even higher-cost with fewer aircraft but more capability. America's Reaper replacement may do the latter: a more sophisticated — and expensive — drone that includes stealth capabilities to evade radar; radar remains the primary means for air defenses to detect targets. For Britain, with its far smaller defense budget of roughly $70 billion, an improved MALE drone isn't viable. Tollast sees several non-drone options, including Low Earth Orbit satellites, high-altitude balloons, and tethered aerostats (such as blimps), which avoid the vulnerability of medium-altitude drones. Yet satellites and balloons may not be in position when you need them, and aerostats can't be dispatched quickly into remote areas. Unless a technological breakthrough enables small UAVs to enjoy the capabilities of their larger brethren, the inability of large drones to function reduces the huge advantage of sensing the battlefield that the US and Western militaries have enjoyed. Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn. Read the original article on Business Insider
New York Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Why Trump Suddenly Declared Victory Over the Houthi Militia
When he approved a campaign to reopen shipping in the Red Sea by bombing the Houthi militant group into submission, President Trump wanted to see results within 30 days of the initial strikes two months ago. By Day 31, Mr. Trump, ever leery of drawn-out military entanglements in the Middle East, demanded a progress report, according to administration officials. But the results were not there. The United States had not even established air superiority over the Houthis. Instead, what was emerging after 30 days of a stepped-up campaign against the Yemeni group was another expensive but inconclusive American military engagement in the region. The Houthis shot down several American MQ-9 Reaper drones and continued to fire at naval ships in the Red Sea, including an American aircraft carrier. And the U.S. strikes burned through weapons and munitions at a rate of about $1 billion in the first month alone. It did not help that two $67 million F/A-18 Super Hornets from America's flagship aircraft carrier tasked with conducting strikes against the Houthis accidentally tumbled off the carrier into the sea. By then, Mr. Trump had had enough. Steve Witkoff, his Middle East envoy, who was already in Omani-mediated nuclear talks with Iran, reported that Omani officials had suggested what could be a perfect offramp for Mr. Trump on the separate issue of the Houthis, according to American and Arab officials. The United States would halt the bombing campaign and the militia would no longer target American ships in the Red Sea, but without any agreement to stop disrupting shipping that the group deemed helpful to Israel. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Egypt Independent
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Huthis' successful targeting of US drones is hampering Trump's mission to kill group's senior leadership
CNN — In the month since the US launched a major military campaign targeting the Huthi rebel group in Yemen, the militants have successfully shot down at least seven multi-million-dollar American drones, hindering the US' ability to move into 'phase two' of the operation, multiple US officials familiar with the matter told CNN. The US was hoping to achieve air superiority over Yemen within 30 days, officials said and degrade Huthi air defense systems enough to begin a new phase focusing on ramping up intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance of senior Huthi leaders in order to target and kill them, the officials said. But the platforms best suited to conduct that persistent effort, the MQ9 Reaper drones, keep getting shot down, the officials explained. In fact, the Huthis are only getting better at targeting them, the officials said. The US does not have boots on the ground in Yemen, so it relies on overhead surveillance — much of it from the MQ9s—to conduct battlefield damage assessments and track terrorists. CNN reported earlier this month that the US had killed several Huthi officials considered to be mid-level, akin to 'middle management,' rather than senior political leadership. The officials said the US had hit over 700 targets and launched more than 300 airstrikes since the campaign began on March 15. The strikes have forced the Huthis to stay underground more and left them in a 'confused and disarrayed state,' the officials noted. But the consistent loss of the drones has made it more difficult for the US to determine precisely how much the US has degraded the Huthis' weapons stockpiles. Over the last six weeks, the Huthis have launched 77 one-way attack drones, 30 cruise missiles, 24 medium-range ballistic missiles, and 23 surface-to-air missiles either at US forces, into the Red Sea, or at Israel, two of the officials said. The intelligence community has also assessed in recent days that over nearly six weeks of US bombing, the Huthis' ability and intent to keep lobbing missiles at US and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and at Israel is little changed, as is their command-and-control structure, according to two other people familiar with the intelligence. These assessments were largely based on signals intelligence, one of the people said. Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Huthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on April 21. AP Asked for comment about the downed drones and whether it has negatively impacted the operation, a defense official told CNN in a statement that 'we are aware of the Huthi reports these MQ-9s have been shot down. While hostile fire is likely a probable cause, the circumstances of each incident are still under investigation. A variety of factors, including an increase in operational tempo, can increase risk. The U.S. will take every measure possible to protect our troops, equipment, and interests in the region.' Dave Eastburn, a spokesman for US Central Command, told CNN details about the US' operation were limited because of operational security. He said, however, that the strikes 'have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, advanced weapons storage locations, and killed hundreds of Huthi fighters and numerous Huthi leaders.' 'Credible open sources report over 650 Huthi casualties to date,' Eastburn said. 'Additionally, Huthi ballistic missile launches have dropped by 87% while attacks from their one-way drones have decreased by 65% since the beginning of these operations.' The administration is vowing to continue with the campaign until the Huthis can no longer attack Red Sea shipping. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson last month, President Donald Trump said the operations would continue 'until the Huthi threat to United States forces and navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea and adjacent waters has abated.' But the Huthis have long proven to be extremely resilient, burying their equipment deep underground and continuing to receive supplies from Iran. They withstood a yearslong campaign by Saudi Arabia to eliminate them, and the Biden administration attacked them for over a year with limited impact. Despite internal assessments raising questions about the efficacy of the campaign, the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that it has been wildly successful so far. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it 'devastatingly effective' in March. Trump posted on X in March that the Huthis 'have been decimated' and their capabilities 'are rapidly being destroyed.' While Eastburn provided additional data on Thursday regarding the impact of US strikes, US Central Command has been largely silent about the impact, however, even as it routinely shares photos and videos on its X account of missiles firing off of warships or US aircraft preparing to launch off aircraft carriers in the Red Sea. The Pentagon has also not addressed claims by the Huthis that the airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians. In a rare update, CENTCOM said last week that it had destroyed a port in Yemen that the Huthis were using to import oil and fuel their attacks. But the impact of that on the Huthis' operations similarly remains unclear. One of the US officials who spoke to CNN left the door open for a continuous campaign in support of US partners in the Gulf region against the Huthis, similar to how the US operates in Africa. The costs of the campaign, meanwhile, are only rising. The operation cost the US nearly $1 billion in just the first three weeks, and the US has continued striking Huthi targets daily for over a month. This photograph released by the US Navy shows a MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter hovering over the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier while operating in the Middle East on April 12. Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Jordan/US Navy/AP The large-scale operation has also rattled some officials at US Indo-Pacific Command, who CNN has reported had complained in recent weeks about the large number of long-range weapons being expended by CENTCOM that would be critical in the event of a war with China. 'We have to maintain a high state of indications and warning so we can get those forces back if there is a crisis with greater exigence than there is one in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility),' US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Sam Paparo told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, after an entire Patriot air defense battalion was moved from the Pacific to US Central Command. 'And I owe the secretary and the president constant vigilance on this,' he added, 'and a constant awareness of that force's ability – which is assigned to INDOPACOM, the Carl Vinson Strike Group and a Patriot battalion – if need be that they return to the INDOPACOM theater for a higher priority threat.'
CNN
25-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Houthis' successful targeting of US drones is hampering Trump's mission to kill group's senior leadership
In the month since the US launched a major military campaign targeting the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, the militants have successfully shot down at least seven multi-million-dollar American drones, hindering the US' ability to move into 'phase two' of the operation, multiple US officials familiar with the matter told CNN. The US was hoping to achieve air superiority over Yemen within 30 days, officials said and degrade Houthi air defense systems enough to begin a new phase focusing on ramping up intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance of senior Houthi leaders in order to target and kill them, the officials said. But the platforms best suited to conduct that persistent effort, the MQ9 Reaper drones, keep getting shot down, the officials explained. In fact, the Houthis are only getting better at targeting them, the officials said. The US does not have boots on the ground in Yemen, so it relies on overhead surveillance — much of it from the MQ9s—to conduct battlefield damage assessments and track terrorists. CNN reported earlier this month that the US had killed several Houthi officials considered to be mid-level, akin to 'middle management,' rather than senior political leadership. The officials said the US had hit over 700 targets and launched more than 300 airstrikes since the campaign began on March 15. The strikes have forced the Houthis to stay underground more and left them in a 'confused and disarrayed state,' the officials noted. But the consistent loss of the drones has made it more difficult for the US to determine precisely how much the US has degraded the Houthis' weapons stockpiles. Over the last six weeks, the Houthis have launched 77 one-way attack drones, 30 cruise missiles, 24 medium-range ballistic missiles, and 23 surface-to-air missiles either at US forces, into the Red Sea, or at Israel, two of the officials said. The intelligence community has also assessed in recent days that over nearly six weeks of US bombing, the Houthis' ability and intent to keep lobbing missiles at US and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and at Israel is little changed, as is their command-and-control structure, according to two other people familiar with the intelligence. These assessments were largely based on signals intelligence, one of the people said. Asked for comment about the downed drones and whether it has negatively impacted the operation, a defense official told CNN in a statement that 'we are aware of the Houthi reports these MQ-9s have been shot down. While hostile fire is likely a probable cause, the circumstances of each incident are still under investigation. A variety of factors, including an increase in operational tempo, can increase risk. The U.S. will take every measure possible to protect our troops, equipment, and interests in the region.' Dave Eastburn, a spokesman for US Central Command, told CNN details about the US' operation were limited because of operational security. He said, however, that the strikes 'have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, advanced weapons storage locations, and killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders.' 'Credible open sources report over 650 Houthi casualties to date,' Eastburn said. 'Additionally, Houthi ballistic missile launches have dropped by 87% while attacks from their one-way drones have decreased by 65% since the beginning of these operations.' The administration is vowing to continue with the campaign until the Houthis can no longer attack Red Sea shipping. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson last month, President Donald Trump said the operations would continue 'until the Houthi threat to United States forces and navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea and adjacent waters has abated.' But the Houthis have long proven to be extremely resilient, burying their equipment deep underground and continuing to receive supplies from Iran. They withstood a yearslong campaign by Saudi Arabia to eliminate them, and the Biden administration attacked them for over a year with limited impact. Despite internal assessments raising questions about the efficacy of the campaign, the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that it has been wildly successful so far. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it 'devastatingly effective' in March. Trump posted on X in March that the Houthis 'have been decimated' and their capabilities 'are rapidly being destroyed.' While Eastburn provided additional data on Thursday regarding the impact of US strikes, US Central Command has been largely silent about the impact, however, even as it routinely shares photos and videos on its X account of missiles firing off of warships or US aircraft preparing to launch off aircraft carriers in the Red Sea. The Pentagon has also not addressed claims by the Houthis that the airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians. In a rare update, CENTCOM said last week that it had destroyed a port in Yemen that the Houthis were using to import oil and fuel their attacks. But the impact of that on the Houthis' operations similarly remains unclear. One of the US officials who spoke to CNN left the door open for a continuous campaign in support of US partners in the Gulf region against the Houthis, similar to how the US operates in Africa. The costs of the campaign, meanwhile, are only rising. The operation cost the US nearly $1 billion in just the first three weeks, and the US has continued striking Houthi targets daily for over a month. The large-scale operation has also rattled some officials at US Indo-Pacific Command, who CNN has reported had complained in recent weeks about the large number of long-range weapons being expended by CENTCOM that would be critical in the event of a war with China. 'We have to maintain a high state of indications and warning so we can get those forces back if there is a crisis with greater exigence than there is one in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility),' US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Sam Paparo told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, after an entire Patriot air defense battalion was moved from the Pacific to US Central Command. 'And I owe the secretary and the president constant vigilance on this,' he added, 'and a constant awareness of that force's ability – which is assigned to INDOPACOM, the Carl Vinson Strike Group and a Patriot battalion – if need be that they return to the INDOPACOM theater for a higher priority threat.'
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Houthis successful targeting of US drones is hampering Trump's mission to kill group's senior leadership
In the month since the US launched a major military campaign targeting the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, the militants have successfully shot down at least seven multi-million-dollar American drones, hindering the US' ability to move into 'phase two' of the operation, multiple US officials familiar with the matter told CNN. The US was hoping to achieve air superiority over Yemen within 30 days, officials said and degrade Houthi air defense systems enough to begin a new phase focusing on ramping up intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance of senior Houthi leaders in order to target and kill them, the officials said. But the platforms best suited to conduct that persistent effort, the MQ9 Reaper drones, keep getting shot down, the officials explained. In fact, the Houthis are only getting better at targeting them, the officials said. The US does not have boots on the ground in Yemen, so it relies on overhead surveillance — much of it from the MQ9s—to conduct battlefield damage assessments and track terrorists. CNN reported earlier this month that the US had killed several Houthi officials considered to be mid-level, akin to 'middle management,' rather than senior political leadership. The officials said the US had hit over 700 targets and launched more than 300 airstrikes since the campaign began on March 15. The strikes have forced the Houthis to stay underground more and left them in a 'confused and disarrayed state,' the officials noted. But the consistent loss of the drones has made it more difficult for the US to determine precisely how much the US has degraded the Houthis' weapons stockpiles. Over the last six weeks, the Houthis have launched 77 one-way attack drones, 30 cruise missiles, 24 medium-range ballistic missiles, and 23 surface-to-air missiles either at US forces, into the Red Sea, or at Israel, two of the officials said. The intelligence community has also assessed in recent days that over nearly six weeks of US bombing, the Houthis' ability and intent to keep lobbing missiles at US and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and at Israel is little changed, as is their command-and-control structure, according to two other people familiar with the intelligence. These assessments were largely based on signals intelligence, one of the people said. Asked for comment about the downed drones and whether it has negatively impacted the operation, a defense official told CNN in a statement that 'we are aware of the Houthi reports these MQ-9s have been shot down. While hostile fire is likely a probable cause, the circumstances of each incident are still under investigation. A variety of factors, including an increase in operational tempo, can increase risk. The U.S. will take every measure possible to protect our troops, equipment, and interests in the region.' Dave Eastburn, a spokesman for US Central Command, told CNN details about the US' operation were limited because of operational security. He said, however, that the strikes 'have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, advanced weapons storage locations, and killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders.' 'Credible open sources report over 650 Houthi casualties to date,' Eastburn said. 'Additionally, Houthi ballistic missile launches have dropped by 87% while attacks from their one-way drones have decreased by 65% since the beginning of these operations.' The administration is vowing to continue with the campaign until the Houthis can no longer attack Red Sea shipping. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson last month, President Donald Trump said the operations would continue 'until the Houthi threat to United States forces and navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea and adjacent waters has abated.' But the Houthis have long proven to be extremely resilient, burying their equipment deep underground and continuing to receive supplies from Iran. They withstood a yearslong campaign by Saudi Arabia to eliminate them, and the Biden administration attacked them for over a year with limited impact. Despite internal assessments raising questions about the efficacy of the campaign, the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that it has been wildly successful so far. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it 'devastatingly effective' in March. Trump posted on X in March that the Houthis 'have been decimated' and their capabilities 'are rapidly being destroyed.' While Eastburn provided additional data on Thursday regarding the impact of US strikes, US Central Command has been largely silent about the impact, however, even as it routinely shares photos and videos on its X account of missiles firing off of warships or US aircraft preparing to launch off aircraft carriers in the Red Sea. The Pentagon has also not addressed claims by the Houthis that the airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians. In a rare update, CENTCOM said last week that it had destroyed a port in Yemen that the Houthis were using to import oil and fuel their attacks. But the impact of that on the Houthis' operations similarly remains unclear. One of the US officials who spoke to CNN left the door open for a continuous campaign in support of US partners in the Gulf region against the Houthis, similar to how the US operates in Africa. The costs of the campaign, meanwhile, are only rising. The operation cost the US nearly $1 billion in just the first three weeks, and the US has continued striking Houthi targets daily for over a month. The large-scale operation has also rattled some officials at US Indo-Pacific Command, who CNN has reported had complained in recent weeks about the large number of long-range weapons being expended by CENTCOM that would be critical in the event of a war with China. 'We have to maintain a high state of indications and warning so we can get those forces back if there is a crisis with greater exigence than there is one in the CENTCOM [area of responsibility],' US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Sam Paparo told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, after an entire Patriot air defense battalion was moved from the Pacific to US Central Command. 'And I owe the secretary and the president constant vigilance on this,' he added, 'and a constant awareness of that force's ability – which is assigned to INDOPACOM, the Carl Vinson Strike Group and a Patriot battalion – if need be that they return to the INDOPACOM theater for a higher priority threat.'
