December 19, 2021
“MQ-Next”: The U.S. Air Force's Plan for an Unmanned Aircraft
These unmanned aircraft may quite likely be smaller, stealthier, more lethal and even operate in swarms to blanked areas with surveillance
by Kris Osborn
Here's What You Need to Know: When it comes to the Air Force goal of providing survivable, persistent ISR, the MQ-9 Reaper has been answering the call.
The Air Force is exploring various interesting options when it comes to finding and deploying a replacement for its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft and is planning to take its time developing a plan for the future.
The military service is running an interesting program called “MQ-Next” which is not immersed in a world of technological exploration and the “realm of the possible” to determine what future drones used to perform Reaper-like missions will look like. These unmanned aircraft may quite likely be smaller, stealthier, more lethal and even operate in swarms to blanked areas with surveillance. As the Air Force pursues this developmental trajectory, the service is taking great comfort in the fact that its ongoing innovations are gaining extra support, traction and funding by virtue of having time to work with. The MQ-Next does not need to be operational until 2031, which means the service can take the time it needs to identify and develop the best possible next-generation drones for the 2030s and beyond.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/%E2%80%9Cmq-next%E2%80%9D-us-air-forces-plan-unmanned-aircraft-198127
