General Atomics Image General Atomics announced the first operational fielding of its Reaper ER armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by the U...
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The MQ-9 Reaper® Extended Range (Reaper ER) will provide a tremendous capability increase in both range and endurance, enabling longer ISR and ground attack missions.
A Reaper can be transformed into a Reaper ER through the integration of a field-retrofittable modification package consisting of two wing-mounted fuel tanks which significantly extend the aircraft’s maximum endurance.
Reaper’s original external payload carriage configuration remains unchanged, providing the aircraft with a “mix and match” capability that allows it to carry both fuel tanks and an assortment of external payloads.
To increase thrust and improve takeoff performance at higher gross weights, an alcohol/water injection system and a four-bladed propeller were incorporated, along with a heavyweight trailing arm landing gear system that enables safe ground operations at the heavier gross weight.
The Reaper ER program was a Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) requirement in support of USAF which challenged GA to deliver 38 Reaper ER aircraft in 13 months, and to be operational 18 months following contract award.
The ER modification package was designed to be field-retrofittable so that fuel tanks and associated equipment could be installed quickly and conveniently on current Reapers at worldwide locations.
The modification will extend the flight time by about 10 hours, increasing the ISR configured Reaper flight time to about 40 hours and Hellfire missile armed Reaper to 33 hours.
The MQ-9 is a larger, heavier, and more capable aircraft than the famous unarmed MQ-1 Predator.
The Reaper is powered by a 712 kW turboprop engine, far more powerful than the Predator's 115 hp (86 kW) piston engine, which allows the Reaper to carry 15 times more payload and cruise at almost three times the speed of the MQ-1.
