Pictured is a U.S. Air Force photo of three MQ-9A Reapers with the 432nd Wing, as they prepare to take off during Exercise Bamboo Eagle 25-3 on Aug. 5, 2025.

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Air Force are collaborating on a project to replace the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper which, depending on payload, can cost up to $50 million apiece. "The Joint Force's reliance on low density, high-value 'exquisite' --greater than $30 million--manned and unmanned aircraft is unsustainable against adversaries utilizing layered defenses enabled by increasingly low-cost anti-aircraft capabilities," according to a DIU solicitation on a future "massed modular aircraft" (MMA). "Crucially, MMA must retain the ability to be…