The U.S. Air Force is accelerating development of a cheaper, more expendable successor to the MQ-9A Reaper after combat losses in recent operations against Iran. Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, the service’s chief modernization officer, said Sept. 3 that those losses had accelerated discussions about the Massed Modular Aircraft, or MMA, program. Breaking Defense reported that officials are examining ways to move the program ahead, but did not specify how quickly the new aircraft could be fielded.
The initial MMA plan called for 20 mission-ready aircraft by fiscal 2031. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink directed an acceleration, and that target could move forward by about two years, Defense News reported. Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel, the Defense Innovation Unit’s military deputy, said the organization generally intended to reach a prototype within a year and field the aircraft at scale within three years. Those broad objectives did not establish a revised Air Force fielding schedule.
The urgency reflects a shrinking Reaper fleet. Lt. Gen. David Tabor told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee in May that the Air Force had about 135 aircraft, roughly 54 below the service’s 189-aircraft floor. Niemi did not provide an updated inventory figure at the Sept. 3 briefing. Defense News reported that at least 45 Reapers had been lost since operations against Iran began in February, citing an August report based on three U.S. officials.
Replacing those aircraft with more MQ-9As is difficult because General Atomics ended production of the model in 2025. The Air Force is pursuing a short-term purchase of existing MQ-9A airframes in fiscal 2026, Tabor said. Niemi also said budget constraints made a large purchase of the newer MQ-9B SkyGuardian unrealistic.
“There’s a, I think, sort of a misconception that because the MQ-9B is in production, we can walk down there with a big fat check and have 100 of them this year. That’s not reality,” Niemi said, according to Breaking Defense. The statement addressed the difficulty of quickly obtaining a large number of aircraft, rather than setting a one-year delivery timeframe for a replacement fleet.
The MMA competition opened through the Defense Innovation Unit in July, with the Air Force as a partner. Its requirements called for a modular, mass-producible aircraft capable of Reaper-class strike, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and communications-relay missions. The notice sought at least 2,800 pounds of payload and an 8,000-nautical-mile one-way ferry range. The aircraft is intended to be inexpensive enough for the Defense Department to tolerate combat losses.
The Air Force is targeting an air-vehicle price near $10 million, excluding a full mission package. Niemi compared that figure with a planned Collaborative Combat Aircraft price of about $20 million, while an Air Force spokesperson clarified that the figures cover the aircraft itself rather than a fully missionized system. The War Zone reported that Niemi said the service will probably field at least 180 MMA aircraft. A fully equipped Reaper can cost up to $50 million, according to his May testimony.
To reach the lower price, initial MMA versions will rely on established technology rather than unproven systems. Niemi described a slower, heavier aircraft with a long wing and likely turboprop propulsion, broadly in a 4,000-mile class. He said the design would use proven technology and make tradeoffs rather than replicate every feature of the Reaper.
Air Force officials also want modular designs that can receive new capabilities in successive increments, use common hardware and software architectures, and scale production quickly. They are seeking multiple competing designs and higher levels of automation, including the ability for one operator to control several aircraft.
General Atomics is competing with a design called Wildfire. Company spokesman C. Mark Brinkley said the aircraft could be delivered years earlier than the current MMA schedule, but the company has not disclosed its capabilities or cost. Awards for MMA concept refinement had been expected in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. Officials had not announced a new date for those awards or a revised fielding schedule at the Sept. 3 briefing.