As a combat drone (UCAV) with medium altitude long endurance (MALE) capabilities. The MQ-9 Reaper can fly for 14 hours with a range of 1,900 km. Even with an external material tank (reducing the number of weapons), the MQ-9 Reaper can fly 4,171 km. However, in the dynamics of military operations, Reaper may be required to do something more.
From the specifications, the MQ-9 Reaper does not have the ability to receive refueling in the air, and quoted from marines.mil (2/8/2022), for the first time, the MQ-9 Reaper from Ground Task Force 23 carried out direct refueling.
From the Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twenty-nine Palms, California. This marks the first moment the U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper is refueled by a platform from another aircraft on the ground.
The training also allows the 163rd Attack Wing to practice “Reaper ACE,” or “agile combat employment,” which shifts operations from a centralized physical infrastructure to a smaller, dispersed network of locations.
For deployment in a wide area abroad, it is clear that the MQ-9 Reaper needs the support of other aircraft. Given that joint forces will likely not have the ability to build large air bases overseas in future conflicts, adaptation is needed in deploying MQ-9s.
This training and integration is very important for the US Air Force and Marine Corps, to find a more agile solution in the deployment of Marine Corps combat forces also operating the MQ-9 and will later use this refueling integration solution in overseas operations, or especially in Force Design 2030.
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