ARLINGTON- The US Air Force plans to select vendors by the end of 2026 to develop concepts for cheap, attritable drones that can perform the MQ-9 Reaper mission of persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike in a new way.
Col. John Dayton, the portfolio acquisition executive for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and special operations forces, outlined the plan on July 27 during a roundtable with reporters at the Life Cycle Industry Days conference in Dayton, Ohio. The service aims to award multiple contracts late this year.
Inside Massed Modular Aircraft Concept
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) calls the effort “massed modular aircraft,” or MMA. The concept envisions a fleet of uncrewed aircraft operating in groups while remaining effective even as some are shot down.
DIU issued its solicitation on July 7 and stressed the need to keep prices low.
Dayton said it is too soon to tell how many MMA drones the Air Force might want to acquire. The fleet should be large enough to absorb losses and inexpensive enough that those losses can be replaced without difficulty. That requirement places the aircraft between a sophisticated munition and a small aircraft.
The Air Force intends to pattern its MMA contracting process on the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program for semi-autonomous fighter jets.
That program identified competitors, fostered multiple alternatives, and even after down-selects left the door open for losers to re-enter the competition later.
“We’re still early, we’re still seeing what industry can support,” Dayton said. “But I do think that it is more kind of that CCA mentality of, set a large target … for what this could become across the right portfolio, at the right price point, so that we can have that attrition tolerance.”
Both traditional and nontraditional vendors have expressed interest in the program. As potential vendors return with their pitches, Dayton said the Air Force plans to compare them to operational analyses and “find whether there’s a sweet spot in that cost curve to make sure that they both provide the capabilities we need, and that they are attrition or loss tolerant, so that we can use them in the right environment going forward.”
General Atomics, which makes the MQ-9, has already indicated it plans to offer a brand new design for MMA.
How MMA Differs From Collaborative Combat Aircraft
Asked to differentiate the 2 programs, Dayton cited the mission set. MMA aircraft are intended for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions with added strike capability, while the first CCAs are designed for air-to-air combat.
Operating patterns also diverge from the current fleet. The MQ-9 is remotely operated and is not typically flown in formation. MMAs could be used in massed formations, Dayton said, but they could also be operated individually. Semi-autonomous operation similar to a CCA is a future possibility.
Dayton said the software foundation comes first. “My focus … would be to leverage the autonomy government reference architecture into how a massed modular aircraft is flown and operated,” he said. “Maybe initially … I am still flying in a more traditional way,” as with remote MQ-9 control.
Getting the architecture right from the beginning, he added, “allows over time … to build that mission autonomy” into the aircraft.
Why Reaper Model Needs Cheaper Successor
The MQ-9 Reaper serves as the model for MMA. The aircraft has been used for persistent ISR, air-to-ground strikes on mobile targets, and to designate targets for other aircraft.
Its ability to stay on station, wait for mobile targets to emerge, and then strike has been unparalleled, and it operates without putting human operators at risk.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said in May that the MQ-9 was “the most valuable player” of Operation Epic Fury against Iran. As reported by Air and Space Forces, roughly 30 aircraft were lost against Iran.
At $16 million or more per copy, and with new MQ-9s no longer in production, those losses were more costly than the Air Force would have liked. The next generation offers no relief.
General Atomics says the larger MQ-9B would cost around $30 million, though the figure could rise or fall depending on the sensors carried and whether spares and other equipment are included in the price.
Defense Innovation Unit
Dayton did not specify a preferred price point for MMA, saying only that the DIU notice indicated $30 million was too expensive.
The solicitation was blunt in its assessment: “The Joint Force’s reliance on low-density, high-value ‘exquisite’ (>$30 million) manned and unmanned aircraft is unsustainable against adversaries utilizing layered defenses enabled by increasingly low-cost anti-aircraft capabilities.”
Requirements Stay Broad
The Air Force is keeping its requirements wide at this stage. “We’re really trying to engage with industry, engage with nontraditional [companies] with a very broad requirement set,” Dayton said. The goal, he added, is to “capture and better understand … what’s in the realm of possible.”
Multiple contract awards are expected before the end of the year.
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