Over 30 Squadrons of American Reaper Drones Train For Major Maritime Special Operations Against China

The U.S. Air Force has deployed over 30 squadrons of its primary attack and surveillance drone, the MQ-9 Reaper, for the Reaper Smoke 2024 competition, during which units simulated missions over key potential hotspots for tensions with China in the South China Sea. Hosted by the  Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Florida, and organised by the 2nd Special Operations Squadron the exercises simulated a number of missions including launching attacks over Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. Mischief Reef is claimed by China (both the mainland and the Taipei-based Republic of China), as well as Vietnam and the Philippines, but has been under the control of the Chinese mainland since the mid 1990s. The escalation of tensions following the Obama administration’s Pivot to Asia initiative in the early 2010s led the mainland’s People’s Liberation Army to build a large artificial island accommodating a harbour and runway to defend its territorial claim. The Reaper Smoke competition allows MQ-9 squadrons to share tactics and strategies, which is vital due to the drone class’ central role in the U.S. Air Force. As summarised by Staff Sergeant Francisco Rivera-Monge, who took part in the exercises: “When it comes to the fight of tomorrow, we’re all going to be working together… Understanding each other’s capabilities is the key to success when it comes to MQ-9 survivability and the contribution in the fight for tomorrow.” 

Chief of the Air Force Special Operations Command Concepts and Capabilities Development Division Colonel Mark Jones provided further details on how training to operate Reaper drones was evolving, stating: “Air Force Special Operations Command is focused on specialised air power. The MQ-9 inside AFSOC is focused on training the fundamentals - training airmen to be skilled and adapt to use the MQ-9 in ways we haven’t used it before, for the future.” An early indication that the Reaper would play an important role in operations against China was the Air Force’s issuing of personnel with uniform badges depicting one of the drones crewed by a skeleton with a red silhouette of China in the crosshairs of its missile attacks, with this first seen in late 2020. Nevertheless, the Reaper drone’s capabilities remain relatively limited by a number of factors, most notably its limited survivability, with the drones having proven highly vulnerable to even rudimentary air defences. The Yemeni Ansurullah Coalition, against which the U.S. Navy and Air Force have been conducting operations since October 2023, has reportedly shot down eight of the drones in that time - the most recent in early September. Reapers have also been lost or taken damage over Syria on multiple occasions, and have been at the forefront of efforts to buzz and otherwise harass Russian combat aircraft operating in Syrian airspace.