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The Reaper Military
Sale Price AU$8.39 AU$8.39 If Ukraine acquires two Reapers, the Air Force could take note of its performance in that country and apply the data gathered to its own tactics in areas where the threat level would be high during a time of conflict, like in the Indo-Pacific.
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In short, Ukraine could help prove that Reapers are worthwhile in modern-day high-end conflicts if they were to prove useful and survivable while in use over Ukraine. Even with a fleet of only two, should Kyiv accept GA-ASI's offer, he believes that just giving Reaper the chance to establish its capabilities over Ukraine could also present the opportunity to send more of the RPA or systems like it to the country in the
future. There would also be the need to train operators on the Reaper if Ukraine is to take GA-ASI up on its offer. While this can take many months or even years for other operators, Brinkley said that given the situation, Ukraine's training would take place on a compressed timeline.
GA-ASI did also say that the company has offered to conduct this training with Ukrainian operators at no cost to the U.S. taxpayers or the Ukrainian government. While the Reaper later evolved to become a much-improved variant over the MQ-1 in terms of size, performance, and overall capability, Stutzriem still recalls knowing that he and his team were at the forefront of an unmanned revolution that would change military operations.
forever. Since then, Stutzriem has been channeling his experience and knowledge of the Reaper and its progenitor into larger Air Force strategy and operational planning issues, even authoring a policy paper for the Mitchell Institute on the MQ-9 titled 'Reimagining the Reaper.'
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Stutzriem even insisted that simply having trained Reaper operators would provide Ukraine with a team of valuable people that could use their newfound knowledge base to contribute to the advanced age of remotely piloted aircraft. One that is rapidly moving towards unmanned collaborative combat types.
Now the director of research for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, the early days of Stutzriem's career saw him serving as director of operations for Joint Task Force Southwest Asia in 2001. After 9/11, Stutzriem and his team leveraged the air operations center in
Saudi Arabia during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and it was around this time that he became familiar with the use of the MQ-1 Predator, the direct predecessor to the MQ-9. The inevitability of losing platforms, capabilities, and even human life in war is something Stutzriem doesn't shy away from being completely cognizant of.
Along with that, though, Reaper being remotely piloted means that human aircrews aren't being put at risk during the important ISR missions that Stutzriem believes would be beneficial for Ukrainian forces. In fact, a Reaper's ground control station can be positioned literally halfway around the world.
Sale Price AU$70.84 AU$70.84 That isn't to say that the chance of Reaper running into some hairy situations isn't still a prominent reality. While this would have to be factored into both ISR and strike operations, the latter especially could put the Reaper in some particularly precarious positions.
This is because, depending on the munitions being employed, getting the RPA to the necessary target area could push it further into the envelope of an array of Russian air defense systems. Sale Price AU$1.86 AU$1.86
On top of that, GA-ASI itself is working on a number of initiatives that are aimed at ensuring Reaper's relevance for years to come. These include the addition of air-launched effects like the company's new Sparrowhawk drone, onboard artificial intelligence for data-parsing, as well as greater autonomy capabilities.
Even kits that turn the MQ-9 into carrier-capable airframes are being floated. With the right training and the right configuration, Stutzriem and Brinkley are confident that there is a real possibility that Ukraine could make the most out of a platform like Reaper.
Stutzriem in particular believes having the opportunity to familiarize himself with Reaper and its nuances could eventually see the Ukrainian military becoming a major operator of the drone. Stutzriem emphasized that self-protection technologies for the Reaper do exist specifically to increase its survivability in more contested scenarios.
The War Zone discussed these at length in this past feature. These capabilities can come in the form of electronic warfare pods and SIGINT payloads as noted earlier, or threat warning systems made up of sensors designed to indicate when Reaper is being surveilled, detected, or targeted by an adversary.
Full-on self-defense pods also exist that can employ defensive countermeasures. Keep collections to yourself or inspire other shoppers! Keep in mind that anyone can view public collections - they may also appear in recommendations and other places.
View Etsy's Privacy Policy "It is unmanned and therefore that's a benefit of this, and we should expect that we can place Reaper into areas of higher risk," Stutzriem said. "And perhaps with a fleet of MQ-9s, yeah, we're going to lose a few, just like they're losing soldiers on the ground, and they're losing ground vehicles, and they will when tanks are provided lose some
of those tanks. It's the reality of war. "That is combined with other intelligence and other analysis that is being funneled directly to the operations center from which the Reapers are being controlled," Stutzriem said. "So, you don't look at the Reaper as one airframe that's out there in the battlespace unassisted.
It can be supported by threat warning that allows it to move to and fro and so forth, and that changes as things mature or move in the battlespace. It could be in the form of a pod that's on the Reaper, but that's just part of it."
Russia has employed a vast, layered air defense 'overlay' across the front lines that extends deep into the airspace over Ukrainian-controlled territory. Some, including Ukraine's own combat pilots, have argued that this would make it very tough for slower, easily detectable drones operating at medium and higher altitudes like Reaper to survive anywhere near the front lines, much less reach the target areas necessary for the drone to
leverage its direct attack capabilities. At this time, even Ukrainian fast jets do not venture near forward areas at anything but very low levels. While the U.S. government rather than Kyiv would ultimately be responsible for approving any payloads that would be allowed to accompany the Reapers to Ukraine, these capabilities paired with the necessary tactics would comprise an overall strategy that would be critical to increasing the RPA's survivability.
Stutzriem compared this aspect of GA-ASI's proposal to the ongoing debate about whether F-16 Fighting Falcons should be sent to Ukraine, too. DAIRCM can also defend Reaper by employing a laser against incoming infrared-guided missile threats by blinding them and sending them off course.
This pod, in particular, could prove essential to Reaper operations in Ukraine, or at the very least expand its use case. Whether or not such a system would be approved for export to the conflict zone is another matter.
The prospect of sending Reaper, as well as its smaller MQ-1C Gray Eagle cousin, to Ukraine, has been floated a number of times since Russia's all-out invasion of the country began last February. According to GA-ASI spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley, the company has for months "been talking to members of Ukraine's government and armed forces about their needs" and "high-quality, long-endurance [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)]
] has been on every wishlist.” Among these options is the Self-Protection Pod (SPP) that GA-ASI last completed a flight testing demonstration with using a Reaper in January 2021. The SPP is designed with built-in radar warning receivers and an AN/AAQ-45 Distributed Aperture.
Infrared Countermeasure (DAIRCM) system that provides spherical warning of approaching missiles and other threats. SPP can deploy decoy flares, chaff, or even active expendable countermeasures from its countermeasures dispenser that can further confuse incoming missiles. "Simply introducing MQ-9s to the conflict creates a new variable that must be considered and planned against," Brinkley said.
"Just knowing they might be up there has proven to have a tremendous psychological effect on adversaries. Wars are never textbook operations, and Ukraine has proven to be a resilient and formidable opponent. Nothing is invisible and nothing is invincible, but intelligent use of assets can create many openings."
Reaper's strike abilities, though, may not be the driving force behind sending the RPAs to Ukraine, with its ISR mission set instead being the main motivator. GA-ASI's Brinkley said that "too many people are focused purely on the strike capabilities of the MQ-9 and, while formidable, those are not the only uses for the aircraft.
Ukraine needs information, targeting, and overwatch, and two MQ-9s would be a powerful asset.” While Stutzriem had no hand in GA-ASI's offer to sell Ukraine two Reapers for $1, he's a proponent of the overarching idea nonetheless.
Anything that could help support efforts to ensure that Reaper still has a future in both U.S. and allied air power is a win in his book. As far as he's concerned, "not all weapons systems seen as vulnerable in contested airspace are truly obsolete," wrote Stutzriem in his paper.
Brinkley elaborated on this uncertainty, adding that the exploitation argument comes with many 'what-ifs.' He said, "First they have to be lost. Then the wreckage has to be intact. Then it has to be recoverable. Then it has to be transported somewhere for analysis.
Then they have to glean something useful from that." There is also more than meets the eye to GA-ASI's high-profile offer. In a statement written by the company's CEO Linden Blue, he explained that the $1 price tag would allow Kyiv to acquire only the two Reapers and a ground control station to operate them from a disparate location should it accept.
But that price of basically nothing does not include some very expensive items. It will take about $10 million in preparation and shipping costs to get the Reapers to Ukraine, and around an additional $8 million each following year to maintain and sustain the drones, which would still have to come out of the pockets of Kyiv or its allies.
"MQ-9 brings long-range sensing, with the opportunity to stand off from enemy air defenses and still provide awareness into the battlefield. We know that the MQ-9 remains relevant in combat, and that military strategists can use them to great effect with the proper tactics and payloads," Brinkley said.
"This is the secret, these are the people who are the on-ramp, who get this better than me as an old fighter pilot or a bomber pilot," Stutzriem said. "There's a real value to a country like Ukraine, which is in the crucible of the fires of struggling to survive while not being anchored by a bureaucracy like we have in the United States that's been formed for the past."
Like most modern UAVs, the MQ-9 has an exceptionally long endurance rate for an aircraft of its size of 14 hours. This is essential however for it to fully utilize its surveillance role in combat and allows the aircraft to loiter over a target long enough
for it to be identified as a civilian or a hostile. The MQ-9 may also soon gained the role of utilizing air-to-air weapons, but due to its structure not being designed for dogfighting, this may be
limited purely to self-defense. Surveillance is conducted through the use of AN/APY-8 Lynx II Radar and an AN/DAS-1 MTS-B Multi-Spectral Targeting System. Sale Price AU$22.65 AU$22.65 The idea of Ukraine acquiring MQ-9 Reaper drones has been widely questioned if not outright panned by many experts, commentators, and even Ukraine's own combat pilots.
The drone, which flies at relatively slow speeds at medium to high altitudes, has been viewed as unsurvivable anywhere near the front lines and a detour in resources for Kyiv's air arm, which is already under immense pressure.
Another Ukrainian fighter pilot going by his callsign "Juice" noted how the same reality would even face platforms like Gray Eagle, which does not speak to Reaper's potential fate in the country very promisingly. He explained that Gray Eagle can only really be used for reconnaissance at certain distances and "not for attack missions because for attack missions you need to be closer [to the enemy]."
He added, "It's a very capable platform... but as for me, it's very dangerous to use it just on the front line. It's not Afghanistan here."
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