{"id":20668921,"date":"2026-09-06T20:23:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T18:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/usaf-massed-modular-aircraft-mma-10-million-mq-9-replacement-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T20:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T18:24:15","slug":"usaf-massed-modular-aircraft-mma-10-million-mq-9-replacement-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/usaf-massed-modular-aircraft-mma-10-million-mq-9-replacement-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"USAF Wants a $10 Million Reaper Replacement by 2029"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n<p>The United States Air Force has lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reapers since the Iran war began. That is roughly a quarter of the fleet, gone, in about a year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The service has now decided that the answer is not a better Reaper. It is a cheaper one &mdash; and it wants it four years earlier than planned.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>At a Pentagon media roundtable on 3 September, officials said the Massed Modular Aircraft programme is being accelerated with a target price of $10 million per aircraft and fielding at scale as soon as 2029.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px;margin:24px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.7\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Programme:<\/strong> Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA), a joint US Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit effort announced in July 2026<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Target price:<\/strong> $10 million per aircraft, for the base airframe only<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Original schedule:<\/strong> Prototype within 21 months of contract, 20 mission-ready aircraft by FY2031<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>New schedule:<\/strong> Prototype within a year, fielded at scale within three &mdash; as soon as 2029<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Planned fleet:<\/strong> At least 180 aircraft, probably more<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Range goal:<\/strong> Around 4,000 miles, more than twice that expected of a Collaborative Combat Aircraft<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Driver:<\/strong> At least 45 MQ-9s lost since the start of the Iran war, roughly a quarter of the fleet<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The number that changed the schedule<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, the Air Force&rsquo;s new chief modernization officer, said the goals shifted &ldquo;fairly recently&rdquo;, when Air Force Secretary Troy Meink called officials in and told them to move faster. The reason was arithmetic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Although we have plenty of MQ-9As today, we are going through them at a rate that is concerning to us.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi<\/strong> &mdash; US Air Force chief modernization officer, Pentagon roundtable, 3 September 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>That is a very restrained way of describing the loss of a quarter of a fleet. The Reaper is not a cheap aircraft to lose either: Niemi put an MQ-9A with its sensors at around $50 million.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The obvious fix was to buy General Atomics&rsquo; MQ-9B, a larger and more capable Reaper. The Air Force looked at it and said no, on grounds that are worth quoting because they explain the entire programme.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t like losing an MQ-9A that cost on the order of $50 million, with the sensors, you&rsquo;re probably not going to like losing an MQ-9B at a higher price point.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi<\/strong> &mdash; On why the Air Force rejected the MQ-9B<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/mq-9a-reaper-ground-refuelling-subic.jpg\" alt=\"An MQ-9A Reaper being refuelled on the ground\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The MQ-9A has been the Air Force workhorse for medium-altitude surveillance and strike. Its replacement is being designed to be cheap enough to lose. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Eighty percent is good enough<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The engineering philosophy behind MMA is a deliberate rejection of how the Pentagon usually buys aircraft. Niemi described writing the requirements so as not to push technology to the edge, because doing so is expensive, and instead aiming at what he called an approach where eighty percent is good enough, using mature technologies.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>In practice that means no cutting-edge flight control systems, no exotic engines, no novel manufacturing processes. The result will look familiar: long, high-aspect-ratio wings and, most likely, turboprop propulsion. In other words, it will look rather a lot like an MQ-9.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Where it will differ is in the ground station. MMA is meant to be far more automated than the MQ-9A &mdash; Niemi described it as more mouse clicks and keyboard strokes instead of a stick and throttle &mdash; so that fewer people are needed and one operator can handle several aircraft at once.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Not a Collaborative Combat Aircraft<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>It is easy to confuse MMA with the Air Force&rsquo;s Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme. Officials were keen to separate them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going out and autonomously finding targets and employing weapons. It&rsquo;s more like a truck that&rsquo;s carrying packages, whether it&rsquo;s a sensor package or whether it&rsquo;s a weapon, to a point where it can be employed.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi<\/strong> &mdash; On the difference between MMA and CCA<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>The numbers make the split clear. A CCA is meant to look and behave like a fighter, cost around $20 million at full production and fly alongside crewed jets. An MMA is meant to look like a Reaper, cost around $10 million, fly about 4,000 miles &mdash; more than twice the expected CCA range &mdash; carry a heavy payload, and go slowly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Both figures are for the bare airframe, before sensors and weapons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Building for attrition<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The most revealing part of the briefing was about factories rather than aircraft. The Air Force wants manufacturers able to ramp MMA production up and down quickly, because in a serious war it expects to be losing them in bulk.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Niemi noted that in major combat operations, depending on the opponent, the service could be losing dozens of these aircraft a day, and that the more complex an aircraft is, the harder it is to increase production. He contrasted it directly with the F-35, where adding new equipment is difficult because of the architecture of the system. MMA, like CCA, will use an open architecture with standardised interfaces so that sensors and weapons from different vendors can be swapped in quickly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>General Atomics, which builds the Reaper, intends to compete with a new design it calls Wildfire. Company spokesman C. Mark Brinkley said Wildfire addresses all of the concerns posed by the MMA solicitation and that the company can deliver years earlier while keeping quality high.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vPY7CFUNW5k\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic\">Background on why the US military is moving away from the MQ-9 Reaper.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The wider point<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>None of this means the Reaper failed. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach called it the most valuable player of Operation Epic Fury at a congressional hearing in May.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>What has changed is the environment. The MQ-9 was designed for skies where nobody was seriously shooting back. Against an opponent with functioning air defences, an expensive, slow, non-stealthy aircraft with a long loiter time becomes a target, and no amount of capability upgrade fixes that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Air Force&rsquo;s answer is to stop trying to make the aircraft survivable and start making it affordable to lose. That is a significant philosophical shift for a service that has spent forty years buying fewer and more exquisite aeroplanes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\u2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What is the Massed Modular Aircraft programme?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Massed Modular Aircraft, or MMA, is a joint US Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit programme announced in July 2026 to develop a low-cost drone that can perform the missions currently flown by the MQ-9 Reaper. The aircraft are also intended to operate in groups to overwhelm enemy counter-drone defences and force an opponent to expend large numbers of munitions.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many MQ-9 Reapers has the US Air Force lost?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">At least 45 MQ-9s since the start of the Iran war, which is roughly a quarter of the fleet. Air Force officials cited those losses as the main reason for accelerating the MMA programme, with chief modernization officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi saying the service is going through them at a rate that is concerning.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How much will the MMA drone cost?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Air Force is targeting $10 million per aircraft for the base airframe, excluding sensors, weapons and other mission equipment. For comparison, officials put an MQ-9A with sensors at around $50 million, and the target for a Collaborative Combat Aircraft at around $20 million at full production.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the difference between MMA and CCA?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A Collaborative Combat Aircraft is a fighter-shaped autonomous aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed fighters, with higher autonomy and a target price near $20 million. An MMA is a slower, Reaper-shaped aircraft with roughly 4,000 miles of range, a heavy payload and a target price near $10 million. Niemi described the MMA as more like a truck carrying packages than an autonomous hunter.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the Air Force reject the MQ-9B?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Because it costs more. Officials concluded that the larger and more complex MQ-9B did not solve the underlying problem, which is that the Air Force is losing medium-altitude drones faster than it wants to replace them. As Niemi put it, if you do not like losing an MQ-9A at around $50 million with sensors, you will not like losing an MQ-9B at a higher price point.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When will the MMA drone enter service?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The original plan called for a prototype within 21 months of contract award and 20 mission-ready aircraft by fiscal 2031. Officials now aim to follow the Defense Innovation Unit standard timeframe of prototyping within a year of contract and fielding at scale within three, which could mean as early as 2029. The Air Force plans to buy at least 180 aircraft.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the Massed Modular Aircraft programme?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Massed Modular Aircraft, or MMA, is a joint US Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit programme announced in July 2026 to develop a low-cost drone that can perform the missions currently flown by the MQ-9 Reaper. The aircraft are also intended to operate in groups to overwhelm enemy counter-drone defences and force an opponent to expend large numbers of munitions.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many MQ-9 Reapers has the US Air Force lost?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"At least 45 MQ-9s since the start of the Iran war, which is roughly a quarter of the fleet. Air Force officials cited those losses as the main reason for accelerating the MMA programme, with chief modernization officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi saying the service is going through them at a rate that is concerning.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How much will the MMA drone cost?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Air Force is targeting $10 million per aircraft for the base airframe, excluding sensors, weapons and other mission equipment. For comparison, officials put an MQ-9A with sensors at around $50 million, and the target for a Collaborative Combat Aircraft at around $20 million at full production.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the difference between MMA and CCA?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A Collaborative Combat Aircraft is a fighter-shaped autonomous aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed fighters, with higher autonomy and a target price near $20 million. An MMA is a slower, Reaper-shaped aircraft with roughly 4,000 miles of range, a heavy payload and a target price near $10 million. Niemi described the MMA as more like a truck carrying packages than an autonomous hunter.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the Air Force reject the MQ-9B?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because it costs more. Officials concluded that the larger and more complex MQ-9B did not solve the underlying problem, which is that the Air Force is losing medium-altitude drones faster than it wants to replace them. As Niemi put it, if you do not like losing an MQ-9A at around $50 million with sensors, you will not like losing an MQ-9B at a higher price point.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When will the MMA drone enter service?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The original plan called for a prototype within 21 months of contract award and 20 mission-ready aircraft by fiscal 2031. Officials now aim to follow the Defense Innovation Unit standard timeframe of prototyping within a year of contract and fielding at scale within three, which could mean as early as 2029. The Air Force plans to buy at least 180 aircraft.\"}}]}<\/script><p><em>Sources: Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine reporting from a Pentagon media roundtable, 3 September 2026; US Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit statements; General Atomics.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/america-lost-quarter-mq-9-reaper-fleet-iran-war-2026\/\">America Just Lost a Quarter of Its Reapers<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/general-atomics-wildfire-reaper-successor-2026\/\">General Atomics Unveils Wildfire, Its Reaper Successor<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/anduril-yfq-44a-fury-defence-startups-primes-2026\/\">Anduril and the Fury: The Start-Ups Taking On the Defence Primes<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After losing a quarter of its MQ-9 fleet against Iran, the Air Force is accelerating Massed Modular Aircraft, a drone designed to be cheap enough to lose.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":20668568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20668921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>USAF Wants a $10 Million Reaper Replacement by 2029 | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After losing a quarter of its MQ-9 fleet, the Air Force is accelerating Massed Modular Aircraft: a $10 million drone 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