By
Theresa Hitchens on May 12, 2021 at 4:24 PM
An MQ-9 Reaper with three Ghost Reaper pods attached awaits takeoff at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, New York.
WASHINGTON: Upgrades to the MQ-9 Reaper’s comms and targeting capabilities are being demo’d by the Air National Guard (ANG) during the Northern Edge 2021 exercise in the Arctic, with a goal to help the venerable drone “play an increased, more prominent role in the command and control arena of the battlefield.”
The new pod-based capabilities will be flown onboard a 174TH ATKW MQ-9, according to a May 6 press release from the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing.
U.S. MQ-9 Drone gets Deadlier with New Ghost Reaper Pods Our Bureau 862
MQ-9 Reaper with three Ghost Reaper pods awaits takeoff at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, N.Y., April, 14, 2021.
The U.S. Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper drone has received new capabilities including battlefield and airspace communications enhancements as well as target identification tracking and processing.
On May 6, the Air Force said the 174th Attack Wing has partnered with multiple Department of Defense contractors and academia to lead the effort in establishing new and additional capabilities for the MQ-9 Reaper.
The assistant director of operations at the 174th Operations Support Squadron explained there are three separate pods; the Freedom Pod, Centerline Avionics Bay Pod and the REAP Pod. Each pod is manufactured by a contractor which specializes in its unique function, leveraging expertise from previous programs.
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US Air Force
The US Air Force is seeking upgrades to its fleet of MQ-9 Reaper drones as its mission shifts from anti-extremist operations to dealing with near-peer adversaries like Russia and China. Through the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s MQ-9 Program Office, the increased capabilities will be installed in both new Reapers and those already in service.
Since it first flew in February 2001, the capabilities of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper in its many variants have been improved, allowing it to take on more ambitious missions. Currently, it is operated by the United States and six other countries, and has seen action in many theaters around the world, but it s in danger of soon becoming irrelevant.