MQ-9 Reaper

Reaper
Faction	USMC U.S. Army
Type	UAV / UCAV
Seats	None
Item capacity	Max: 3× Weapons 20× Magazines
Top speed	~ 482 km/h
Service ceiling	10,000 m
Fuel capacity	3600 fuel units
Primary armament	Main: 8× AGM-114 Hellfire ATGM
Secondary armament	Targeting: 1× Laser Designator
Variants	None
Games

The MQ-9 Reaper is a fixed-wing Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle used by both the U.S. Marines and U.S. Army forces in ArmA 2.

Overview

• Roles:
  • Observation
  • Laser targeting
  • Air-to-ground fire support

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The MQ-9 Reaper is a combat ready unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It is the first purpose-designed hunter-killer UAV designed for long endurance high altitude surveillance. The MQ-9 is capable of carrying 14 AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles as well as two GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided bombs. Armoury Description

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Design

The Reaper is a medium-altitude, turboprop-powered, multi-mission UAV that is used to observe targets and as strike aircraft.

It is designed to be an improvement over the older MQ-1 Predator and is twice as fast, can carry a larger payload, and has overall increased engine power.

Armament
Its standard armament consists of eight air-to-ground Hellfire anti-tank missiles mounted on pylons beneath each wing, and also has an integrated laser designator that can be used to mark targets for friendly aircraft.

Features
Compared to the Russian-made Pchela-1T, the Reaper is far superior in every way. For starters, it is actually armed with ATGMs which allows it defend itself from anti-aircraft threats like the ZSU-23-4.

The laser marker allows it to serve in a forward air control role for other aircraft armed with guided munitions such as GBU-12s on the F-35B or the AV-8B. Its camera can also be stabilised and is actually useful for reconnaissance purposes.

Drawbacks
Care still needs to be taken when flying near AA threats, however, as the Reaper does not have any defensive avionics. It cannot ward off incoming missiles since it lacks flare or chaff countermeasures.

One other concern is its extremely wide wingspan which is almost three times as large as the Pchela-1T's, which makes it far easier to visually identify from afar and slightly easier for AA guns to hit. Regardless, the Reaper still handles surprisingly well in spite of its larger wingspan.

Protection

The Reaper has a base armour value of 10.

Hull

The drone's hull can only withstand up to 10 points of damage. Depletion of its integrity will instantly result in a total loss.

Armament

The drone's AI "gunner" controls the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The drone's human operator is able to access a camera pod with variable zoom magnification, and can toggle either a day or black-hot/white-hot thermal vision mode:

AGM-114 Hellfire

Damage type	Base damage value	Maximum speed (m/s)
High-Explosive Anti-Tank	800	425

Air-to-ground anti-tank guided missiles. They have a maximum range of 8,000 metres.

Missile seekers are primarily IR-guided but can also lock-on via laser guidance as well. There is always an imposed delay of 1 second in-between launches. The seekers have a 20% chance to lose lock due to smoke countermeasures.

Hellfire missiles are soft launched and take up to 10 seconds to reach a top speed of 425 m/s in-flight. Their warheads are high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) based and have a blast radius of 2 metres.

Avionics

MAWS

The Reaper does not have a Missile Approach Warning System, and will not warn its operator of being tracked by incoming missiles that are already in mid-flight.

RWR

The Reaper does not possess a Radar Warning Receiver and cannot alert its operator of being locked-onto by radar-based targeting systems.

IWR

The Reaper lacks an Infrared Warning Receiver, and will not warn the operator of being targeted by infrared-based weapon systems.

Trivia

• Despite what its in-game Armoury Description states, the Reaper is actually restricted to carrying just eight Hellfire missiles at a time and cannot be fitted with LGBs or more ATGMs.
• The Reaper is currently the only armed fixed-wing UCAV that is available in ArmA 2, with the only other armed drone being the Ka-137 from the Private Military Company DLC (which is a rotary-wing UAV).

Gallery

External links

• Wikipedia: General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper

See also

Drones of comparable role and configuration

• MQ-4A Greyhawk/K40 Ababil-3 (NATO/CSAT/AAF counterpart, ArmA 3 only)