The recent incident with the downing of the American drone MQ-9 Reaper in the waters of the Black Sea raises the question of whether this drone is capable of defending itself in the event of aerial combat. The Drive wrote about the drone’s missile armament.
MQ – 9 Reaper, when performing combat missions, can be armed with AIM – 9X air-to-air missiles with an infrared seeker with visualization. One of the variants of the rocket block is equipped with a data transmission channel, which allows it to be blocked after launch. Under certain circumstances, AIM – 9X can also hit ground and surface targets.
In particular, the ability of the drone to use these missiles has been demonstrated in tests. In 2017, the MQ – 9 Reaper successfully shot down a target drone in this way, and in 2020 the drone with the help of AIM – 9X hit the BQM – 167 drone.
Along with this, there are self-defense modules for the Reaper, providing electronic and disposable countermeasures, as well as spherical situational awareness of threats. The capsule was designed primarily to counter air defenses on the ground, but it can be used in conjunction with the AIM-9X – at least for awareness purposes.
Thus, as the publication points out, the MQ-9 Reaper has the ability to defend itself in aerial combat if the aforementioned weapons are installed on board.
Photos used: US Air Force
