Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers on May 20 that the MQ-9 Reaper was the “most valuable player” in Operation Epic Fury, praising its strike volume and the fact that it brings no pilots into danger—even as the Air Force grapples with nearly 30 Reapers los
On May 20, Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach didn’t talk about the operation’s biggest headlines. He pointed to a platform that, in his view, quietly did the most work.
“For Epic Fury, perhaps the most valuable player was unmanned: the MQ-9,” Wilsbach told the House Armed Services Committee, answering Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) about the Air Force’s plans for future unmanned and autonomous systems.
The endorsement landed hard because it came from a career fighter pilot—and because the Air Force has been weighing retiring the Reaper in the coming years. Wilsbach’s message was blunt: in a conflict measured in strikes, the MQ-9 stood out.
“We’ve made many, many strikes,” Wilsbach said, declining to provide a precise number. He described heavy fighting during a six-week period from late February to early April, when the U.S. military as a whole hit more than 13,000 targets in Iran before a ceasefire took hold.
Nearly every major Air Force aircraft in the inventory was used in Operation Epic Fury, Wilsbach acknowledged through the record of the campaign: F-15Es, F-16s, F-22s, F-35s, A-10s, B-52s, B-1s, and B-2s. But the Reaper remained, in his telling, the centerpiece.
“No other platform is even close to the MQ-9” in terms of the number of strikes against Iran, Wilsbach said. He added that the MQ-9 did so without placing its pilots—who remotely operate the aircraft—in danger.
The problem is that “unmanned” doesn’t mean cost-free.
The Air Force has taken losses. People familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine that nearly 30 MQ-9 Reapers were lost in operations against Iran. Many were lost to air defenses, though some aircraft based in the region were struck while on the ground. Iran has also targeted U.S. bases throughout the region.
Wilsbach tied the operational logic to those realities.
“It’s an unmanned platform, so we get a lot of utility out of them, and don’t put our folks at risk,” he said.
Still, utility doesn’t erase attrition. Reapers continue to be used against Iran, and their role has expanded beyond just strikes.
MQ-9s are active around the Strait of Hormuz to enforce the ongoing U.S. military blockade against Iranian ports, people familiar with the operations said. In addition to weapons, the aircraft can carry a payload of radars, sensors, and cameras. Data links allow Reapers to be operated from around the world and transmit data back to their operators and commanders.
Wilsbach’s comments suggest the MQ-9 spent a large share of its time in higher-threat areas. even though the U.S. military has declined to break down sorties flown during Operation Epic Fury in detailed terms. U.S. Central Command has also declined to comment on the specific roles Reapers are playing against Iran.
In the air war’s tighter moments, Reapers were repeatedly brought back into the fight for targets that changed by the minute.
During the heat of the air campaign, people familiar with the matter said Reapers flew around a dozen orbits over Iran at a time, focused on striking or providing intelligence to other platforms to hit “dynamic targets,” including missile and drone launchers, aircraft, and mobile systems.
After the ceasefire, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the scale of what the U.S. hit. The roughly 13. 000 targets struck in Iran included “more than 4. 000 dynamic targets that popped up on the battlefield and were immediately addressed. ” Caine said. without specifying which platforms were used for those actions.
Even outside the headline totals, the MQ-9’s value shows up in moments like last month’s rescue of a manned aircraft’s crew.
MQ-9s protected the weapons system officer of a downed F-15E Strike Eagle last month by striking Iranian military-aged males believed to be a threat who got within three kilometers of the Airman, Air & Space Forces Magazine previously reported.
The Reaper’s endurance matters in those situations. The slow-flying aircraft can remain aloft for over 24 hours, but that long presence also creates vulnerabilities.
The slow loitering that makes it persistent can also make it predictable. The article notes that while the U.S. claims it has largely destroyed Iranian air defenses. Iran has managed to shoot down an F-15E and an A-10 Thunderbolt II and to damage a U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II. Iran also possesses infrared systems that have proved vexing to American aircraft over Iran and Yemen, where detection is harder.
Retired Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, a former F-16 and MQ-9 pilot and former commander of the 732nd Operations Group, pressed a question that captures the uncertainty behind every loss.
“There’s an important unknown out there. How often are MQ-9s orbiting in Iranian missile threat rings compared to manned aircraft?” Cantwell observed. “Any aircraft, manned or unmanned, is very vulnerable while loitering over a target area searching for mobile missile launchers.”
Losses haven’t been limited to Iran. In recent years, Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have shot down at least a dozen Reapers. Even so, losses against Iran and the Houthis have pushed the Air Force toward a clear decision: buy more.
This year, the U.S. military will seek funding from Congress to purchase more MQ-9s. A senior Air Force official told Congress that the service is seeking to procure some remaining MQ-9As that are no longer in production by maker General Atomics. The last MQ-9s purchased by the Air Force cost $16 million a piece.
“We are concerned about how they’ve attrited,” Lt. Gen. David Tabor. Air Force deputy chief of staff for plans and programs. said on May 13 while testifying before the Senate Armed Services air-land subcommittee. “We’re looking at options to buy back as many of the MQ-9As as we possibly can right now. so there’s a bit of a short-term effort to buy back things immediately. in this fiscal year.”.
Tabor’s briefing also gave the public numbers that help show how the situation is shifting inside the fleet. Official figures show the Active-Duty Air Force had 158 MQ-9s and 24 more in the Air National Guard at the end of 2025. Tabor told the committee last week that the USAF MQ-9 fleet now numbers about 135. without breaking that total down between Active and Guard.
There is still an argument inside the service about what comes next.
“We are not divesting the MQ-9,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said May 20. “We have had some losses in that aircraft. and we’re working to fill those losses. but in parallel. we are looking at what is the follow-on to the MQ-9 aircraft. It’s probably going to be not one platform, it’ll probably be multiple platforms.”.
General Atomics, for its part, says the supply problem isn’t as simple as waiting for new production. Spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley said the firm has less than 10 new or company-owned MQ-9As to offer to the Air Force. He also said the company could bring back decommissioned Reapers and refurbish them. There are also MQ-9As in the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
If the Air Force needs to expand beyond those options, buying the larger successor is likely. Boosting Reaper inventory beyond that would likely involve purchasing MQ-9Bs. A standard MQ-9B costs around $30 million, though the price could be lower depending on how the aircraft is kitted out.
Brinkley pushed back against a narrative that the MQ-9 was losing relevance in a highly contested environment. “All of these tired predictions about ineffectiveness in a highly contested environment were simply wrong. ” he said of the MQ-9A’s use of Operation Epic Fury. “While people were saying it couldn’t be done, Reaper was out there doing it.”.
“We’re taking all of these lessons learned and pouring them back into better products, increased survivability, and enhanced lethality,” Brinkley added of the MQ-9B.
The Air Force is not standing still. Officials have said they received strong interest from industry in a follow-on platform for the MQ-9. That work also sits alongside the service’s separate effort to field Collaborative Combat Aircraft unmanned “loyal wingman” fighters. which it will soon begin fielding. CENTCOM has also employed LUCAS one-way attack drones against Iran.
But the Reaper’s staying power, Cantwell argued, isn’t only about the number of airframes. It’s about how quickly and completely it can close a mission.
Drones such as LUCAS and the first batch of CCA do not yet have “extensive sets of sensors able to find. fix. and run through the entire kill chain by themselves. ” Cantwell said. “The MQ-9 carries a suite of sensors. including pods collecting electronic intelligence and a full motion video sensor. all facilitating closing the kill chain on one aircraft.”.
Reaper may be the “most valuable player,” Wilsbach said. But valuation in this case doesn’t come from praise alone—it comes from a tally of strikes, an accounting of risk, and a fleet forced to regenerate in real time after a war that moved too fast for anyone to wait.
MQ-9 Reaper Kenneth S. Wilsbach Operation Epic Fury Iran House Armed Services Committee air defenses drones U.S. Air Force MQ-9A MQ-9B General Atomics Houthis Strait of Hormuz