[wongarsu]

FTA: 'the firm reported in early June: “Between parts in stock for new builds, and company-owned Reapers with some number of flight hours on them, there are less than 10 total ‘new’ MQ-9As available to any customers anywhere in the world.” The destruction of eight of these new aircraft thus likely accounts for the United States’ entire reserve of its most critical unmanned aircraft type'

[Telemakhos]

General Atomics no longer manufactures the MQ-9A, because they've moved on to the MQ-9B; but the US Air Force has been looking into replacing the whole program with a cheaper model that wouldn't hurt so much to lose. This just accelerates the transition already underway from higher-cost, complex UAVs to more expendable models.

[jst1fthsdys]

The military may want those cheaper models, but will the MIC give it to them?

[verdverm]

Perhaps not the US MIC, but the UA MIC is more than happy to

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/ukraine-a...

They also have their own take on the reaper, unable to find the link today, search has become atrociously bad (over averaged on the wrong words)

[igetspam]

Not if the funding is blocked.