General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. announced significant improvements to be instituted in its MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles for the latter to be survivable against cyber and anti-aircraft weapon threats. These modifications aim to make the drones survive in contested and adversarial environments.
First among these upgrades will be onboard cyber anomaly detection and predictive maintenance solutions provided by US cybersecurity startup Shift5. The partnership will help fortify the Reapers against hostile codes that can ground the aircraft or compromise any intelligence information. As stated by GA-ASI, “The Shift5 platform provides critical operational and cybersecurity insights, helping operators make quick and smart decisions.” It has both online and offline capabilities for real-time access to data and actionable analytics.
“The next logical and immediate extension of our work in enabling the U.S. Air Force is empowering AFSOC and SOCOM with additional resiliency and survivability of the MQ-9A on the battlefield,” said David R. Alexander, President of GA-ASI. He added that Shift5 represents a new class of dual-use defense technology capable of immediate impact on the warfighter.
However, apart from cyber defenses, MQ-9A Reapers will now have a newly integrated Airborne Battlespace Awareness and Defense-ABAD pod. It was specifically designed to detect and counter RF and IR threats, quite common in anti-aircraft weapons. The ABAD pod allows the Reapers to identify earlier threats from the ground and respond more effectively.
“Threat awareness and survivability are critical for MQ-9A to operate in contested environments,” Alexander noted. “ABAD will enable the tracking of RF and IR missile threats, enable defensive measures, and real-time threat awareness for MQ-9A.”
Currently in development, the ABAD pod is scheduled to become operational in 2025. The first phase of the project was to assess appropriate RF electronic warfare and IR countermeasures systems; this resulted in the selection of a next-generation software-defined radio-based electronic warfare system from BAE Systems and Leonardo DRS’s AN/AAQ-45 Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasure System (DAIRCM).
“BAE Systems’ advancements in small-form-factor EW technologies will provide affordable multifunction capabilities for the MQ-9A, enabling it to operate in previously inaccessible airspace,” said Joshua Niedzwiecki, Vice President and General Manager of Electronic Combat Solutions at BAE Systems. The proposed AN/AAQ-45 DAIRCM system from Leonardo DRS will dramatically increase the survivability of the MQ-9A, said David Snodgrass, Vice President, of the DAIRCM Program at Leonardo DRS.
The upgrades come after a string of high-profile incidents involving the MQ-9A Reaper: over the last few months alone, Reapers have been shot down and fallen from the air, both at the hands of Iranian proxy forces, the Houthis, and Russian jets. All these incidents underpin the growing requirement for reinforcing their defensive capability to ensure that drones remain relevant and effective in future combat environments.
The MQ-9A Reaper has already demonstrated versatility in deployment across a wide range of operational scenarios. Outfitted with new upgrades, the Reaper will continue to be a key player in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities, not to mention combat, even in dynamic and contested environments.