Sources have told the Washington Post that the US fleet of Reaper drones have been depleted by the Iran conflict.
The US military has lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones during the war with Iran, or roughly 25% of its fleet, according to three US officials familiar with the matter.
The Reaper is used to conduct surveillance and targeted strikes, and one can cost between US$30 million ($51m) and
US$50 million ($85m) – depending on the type of sensors and weapons it carries, according to the Air Force.
The potential taxpayer cost of recent losses is over US$1.3 billion ($2.2b) for that weapon system alone.
The aircraft have seen heavy use around the Strait of Hormuz but they fly slowly and often at low altitudes, making them relatively easy targets for Iran’s military and its regional proxies in Yemen and Iraq.
A fourth US official, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Pentagon data, said that not all of the lost Reapers were shot down. An unspecified number crashed after their operators’ communications link to the drones failed.
The Reaper joins a growing list of US weapons and munitions that have been drained by the Iran war and years of American military support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
In the Iran campaign’s first month, US forces fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 1000 Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missiles, significantly cutting into stockpiles of a key long-range strike capability and the military’s most in-demand air-defence systems, The Washington Post reported previously.
Such shortages have constrained President Donald Trump’s military options as tensions with Tehran remain high and forced US commanders in the region to change defensive tactics and hold missiles in reserve if they determine that an incoming Iranian missile is unlikely to harm anyone.
The Pentagon, which declined to comment for this article, has consistently denied reports that its weapons stockpiles are running low. At the same time, the Trump administration has asked Congress for tens of billions of dollars in funding to offset costs incurred by the Iran war and to replenish supplies.
As The Post reported last week, Trump confronted Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth about the state of the US stockpile. The encounter occurred on July 31, on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
The shortages have appeared to embolden Iran, which has intensified its demands for control of the Strait of Hormuz and reparations for damage the country has sustained since Trump ordered the start of hostilities on February 28.
There were approximately 185 Reapers in the US military fleet – 165 in the Air Force and 20 in the Marine Corps – before the conflict began, according to public budget data and the services.
That figure does not include Reapers operated by US intelligence agencies. To date, none of the Marines’ Reapers have been lost, a spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Benson, said in a statement. Those operate primarily in the Asia-Pacific.
In May, Lieutenant General David Tabor, a senior Air Force officer at the Pentagon, told the Senate that the number of remaining drones had fallen to about 135. At the time, Tabor told lawmakers he was “concerned” about the losses and that the Air Force was exploring how to quickly replenish its fleet.
