Pentagon Scrambles for Drones After $1B Reaper Losses to Iran
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- Iran has shot down about 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones, leaving the U.S. military with approximately 135 Reapers at roughly $30 million each — close to $1 billion in losses, a U.S. official said last week.
- The Pentagon on July 7 conceded the Reaper fleet costs too much and needs replacement with cheaper "Massed Modular Aircraft" (MMA) designed to be deployed in large, risk-tolerant groups, giving contractors just 16 days to respond.
- The Pentagon on July 9 signed $86 million contracts — potentially worth $847 million — with Lockheed and nLIGHT to develop directed-energy weapons against drone swarms and cruise missiles, using Other Transaction Authority deals that bypass normal federal procurement rules.
- POGO general counsel Scott Amey called the OTA contracts "a recipe for disaster," noting they were intended to lure non-traditional contractors rather than divisions of Lockheed, the Pentagon's biggest contractor.
- The Air Force announced July 9 each B-21 Raider cockpit will carry two pilots, reversing earlier considerations for single-pilot or uncrewed operation, because long-range missions like the B-2's 37-hour Iran bombing raids require more than one pilot.
- Emil Michael, the former Uber executive now heading U.S. military research, announced the laser deals with Pentagon press-release language so dense in military buzz phrases that it reads like a contest winner.
Why it matters: The Pentagon is conceding its $30-million-per-Reaper drone model is unsustainable against Iranian air defenses, while funneling up to $847 million into directed-energy weapons that critics note have been perpetually "five years away." The dual bet on cheap expendable drones and costly counter-drone lasers — executed under procurement exemptions that POGO's counsel called "a recipe for disaster" — exposes a scramble with no proven winning technology and no fallback if lasers fail again.
