The MQ-Next, future replacement for the MALE MQ-9 Reaper drone, takes shape for General Atomics

In service with 10 air forces, 9 of which are members of NATO, the Medium Altitude Long Endurance MQ-9 Reaper drone from the American General Atomics, is today the Western reference in the field of combat drones. this range. Able to stay in the air for 15 hours at an altitude of more than 7 km and at more than 300 km/h while carrying 4 Hellfire or Brimstone air-to-ground missiles, the Reaper is today a central component of the operations carried out by Western armies, especially over the vast expanses of Africa and the Middle East, both to monitor the movements of potential adversaries and to conduct strikes of opportunity. Since their entry into service, the MQ-1 Predator and especially its successor, the MQ-9 Reaper, both produced by General Atomics, have profoundly transformed the conduct of military operations in so-called low and medium intensity theaters. On the other hand, as soon as it came to using them over disputed areas with anti-aircraft systems, the essential effectiveness of MALE drones was largely undermined.

This was particularly the case during the Libyan civil war which opposed the forces of the government of Tripoli to those of General Haftar controlling the Benghazi region. With forces on both sides having SA-8 and SA-6 short- and medium-range anti-aircraft systems, as well as newer systems like the Russian Pantsir, these anti-aircraft weapon systems dealt heavy blows to the Predator and other Wing Loong trying to monitor opposing forces on both sides. Even the dreaded Reaper failed to maneuver safely above Libyan skies, as was also the case above Syria a few months earlier. The vulnerability of current MALE and HALE drones is however in no way a recent discovery for the US Air Force, which began in 2019 to develop a replacement for the MQ-9 capable of precisely evolving above present and future contested spaces. . This program, which currently responds to the code name MQ-Next, aims for the entry into service of this new model of MALE drones between 2030 and 2035, and intends to have capacities far superior to those of the current MQ-9s.

At the 2022 Air Force Association conference, the designer of the Reaper and Predator, General Atomics, presented his vision of what could be the next MALE MQ-Next drone of the United States Air Force (in main picture). And it is clear that, in view of the ambitions displayed by the American aircraft manufacturer, this future generation of drone intends to offer a major capacity gain compared to the current generation, well beyond, for example, what today brings the 5th generation of combat aircraft vis-à-vis the 4th. Indeed, even if most of the research on the subject is still under the seal of secrecy, General Atomics has presented some of the major capabilities of its MQ-Next. Thus, the drone will be designed in the form of a stealth flying wing so as to reduce as much as possible the radar equivalent surface of the device to allow its use above contested spaces. Similarly, the equipment and armaments will be integrated into the cell or transported in the hold so as not to degrade the stealth of the machine. It will also be equipped with a new hybrid electric propulsion system improving the performance of its turbojet engine so as to give it a range of more than 60 flight hours, 4 times more than the Reaper, at a much higher cruising speed, offering it unparalleled performance in terms of range of the order of 35.000 km or more, potentially allowing the MQ-Next to take off from Hawaii, cross the Pacific to carry out a 20-hour surveillance mission in the sky of the China Sea , before returning to its starting point, without refueling or stopover, and in the most discreet way.

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