Iranian Forces Shoot Down Another U.S. MQ-9 Reaper Drone After Attempted Strike on Anti-Ship Missile Launcher

Iranian air defences were reported on October 21 to shot down a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone, after the unmanned aircraft attempts to target an anti-ship cruise missile launcher in the country. The engagement occurred near the coastal city of Sirik in Hormozgan Province, with images circulating online showing smoke rising from the area. Sirik lies along Iran’s southern coastline near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a substantial share of global oil shipments passes. While U.S. forces have relied heavily on unmanned aircraft like the MQ-9 for penetration strikes into Iran, due to the high attrition rates which aircraft have suffered, Iranian forces depend heavily on ground-based air defences and mobile cruise missile launchers to asymmetrically counter American air and naval power respectively. 

The reported attack comes amid continued U.S.-Iranian military confrontations over control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command has previously announced strikes against Iranian coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage facilities, naval capabilities and other military infrastructure intended to reduce Tehran’s ability to exercise sea denial. In a separate round of attacks in July, U.S. forces reported striking approximately 90 Iranian military targets along the country’s coastline. The loss of an MQ-9 represents another setback for U.S. unmanned operations over and around Iran, with close to 50 having been lost in engagements with Iranian and Yemeni Ansurullah Coalition forces. 

In mid-October it was confirmed that at least 81 American military aircraft had been lost or damaged during the U.S.-led war effort against Iran since February 28, including at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones. This count did not account for the reported destruction of eight newly produced and unassembled MQ-9s during an Iranian missile strike on King Faisal Air Base in Jordan in late July. Reports of unassembled MQ-9 drones being present at air bases in the Middle East corroborated with reports from U.S. sources that a number of airframes stored by the type’s primary producer, General Atomics, could be purchased by the Air Force to replenish wartime losses. The U.S. Air Force cannot place orders for additional MQ-9A Reapers due to the suspension of production, as while limited production of the MQ-9 continues, only the very different MQ-9B SeaGuardian, which has a redesigned airframe that has different systems and logistics requirements, is being produced.