A fully armed MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle taxis down the runway at an air base in Afghanistan on its way to another wartime mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson).
Iran has destroyed more than two dozen MQ-9 Reaper combat drones of the United States military since the start of the war, Bloomberg reported on May 21, citing unnamed sources.
MQ-9 drones are primarily used to collect intelligence, but have the ability to conduct pinpoint strikes. The advanced drones can operate for more than 27 hours and reach altitudes of over 25,000 feet. A single Reaper drone could cost about $30 million or more.
The losses are estimated at around $1 billion, according to Bloomberg, which noted that these losses represent nearly 20 percent of the Pentagon’s pre-war inventory.
The latest MQ-9 loss took place on May 6, close to a month into the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. It was shot down by Iranian air defenses over Qeshm.
Bloomberg said that some of the drones were downed by Iranian air defenses mid-flight, while others were destroyed on the ground by strikes on U.S. facilities, or lost in operational accidents.
Previous reports on the losses only mentioned MQ-9s being lost mid-flight, although satellite images confirmed that multiple hangers used to house Reaper drones were hit, specifically in Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem Air Base and Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
Bloomberg’s latest report didn’t clarify if the losses include a Reaper shot down by Iran-aligned armed factions over Iraq on March 9, or another shot down by the Houthis, who are also allied to the Islamic Republic, over Yemen more recently on May 17.
These costly losses certainly had a direct impact on the operational capabilities of the U.S. military, especially when it comes to intelligence collection.
They also confirm that the U.S. and Israel have failed to degrade Iran’s defense and offensive capabilities in a significant way.
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go iran! 🇮🇷💪🇮🇷💪🇮🇷💪