More than a dozen unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost in combat as part of operations against Iran, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News.
The Reaper drones were lost either to Iranian missiles or were destroyed on the ground by incoming fire.
Reaper drones can be used as reconnaissance aircraft, but they are also equipped with Hellfire missiles used to strike targets.
A U.S. Marine Corps MQ-9 Reaper drone takes off for unmanned aerial system tactics training as part of Weapons and Tactics Instructor course 1-25 at Laguna Army Airfield, Arizona, Oct. 5, 2024
Sgt. Trent A. Henry/U.S. Marine Corps
The loss of this number of Reapers is indicative of how many of these key unmanned aircraft must be operating as part of the U.S. operations against Iran.
The loss of the drones in the Iran war was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The Air Force announced its final five-year purchasing contract for Reapers in 2020, and manufacturer General Atomics closed the production line last year after building 575 of them. The final lot cost about $16 million each when purchased in a batch of four, according to C. Mark Brinkley, a General Atomics spokesman.
