Search

House Defense Appropriators Advise Restart of Air Force MQ-9 Buy, Add Six Reapers

House Defense Appropriators Advise Restart of Air Force MQ-9 Buy, Add Six Reapers
An MQ-9 Reaper with three Ghost Reaper pods attached awaits takeoff at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y. on April 14. The Air National Guard's Ghost Reaper concept is to make the MQ-9A Block 5 a central node for the Advanced Battle Management System. The three Ghost Reaper pods are the Northrop Grumman Freedom pod, the General Atomics' Centerline Avionics Bay, and the Ultra Electronics' Rosetta Echo Advanced Payloads (REAP) pod (U.S. Air National Guard Photo)

While the U.S. Air Force requested no funding for General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones in fiscal 2022, the House Appropriations Committee's defense panel's (HAC-D) version of the FY 2022 Defense Appropriations Bill adds six Reapers for the service. Overall, the bill would invest $351 million for 12 MQ-9s, including six requested by the U.S. Marine Corps for Medium Altitude Long Endurance-Tactical (MALE-T) close air support and communications. MALE-T is to provide "direct support to the Marine Littoral Regiment in peer-to-peer…

Subscriber-only content. Please log in below.

Not a subscriber or registered user yet?

Please contact us at clientservices@accessintel.com or call us at 888-707-5814 (Monday – Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. and Friday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET.), to start a free trial, get pricing information, order a reprint, or post an article link on your website.



Congress Updates

Will $4 Billion For SB-AMTI/Space Data Network Backbone In Supplemental Reduce Or Add To Planned Funding For Systems In Reconciliation?

Nearly all of the Department of the Air Force’s fiscal 2027 procurement and research and development (R&D) budget for space-based air moving target indication (SB-AMTI) and the Space Data Network […]


House Appropriators ‘Concerned’ With JLTV A2 Delays, Shift Funds For Marines’ Second Supplier Effort

House appropriators have said they’re “seriously concerned” with Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) A2 delays, as their fiscal year 2027 defense spending bill shifts funds to support the Marine Corps’ […]


House Appropriators Uncertain Navy Will Award F/A-XX Contract By August

House appropriators said they are skeptical the Defense Department will award the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract for the Navy’s F/A-XX next-generation carrier-based fighter program by the most recent […]


House Appropriators Approve $1.07 Trillion FY ‘27 Defense Bill Amid Reconciliation Uncertainty

The House Appropriations Committee has approved its $1.07 trillion fiscal year 2027 defense spending bill, advancing a bill with a historic topline while uncertainty lingers over Congress’ next step to […]