MQ-9 Reaper

Reaper
Faction	USMC U.S. Army
Type	UAV / UCAV
Seats	None
Item capacity	Max: 3× Weapons 20× Magazines
Top speed	~ 430 km/h
Fuel capacity	3600 fuel units
Primary armament	Main: 8× AGM-114 Hellfire
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. It 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 superior in every way. For starters, it is actually armed with ATGMs which allows it to 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 easier to visually identify from afar and slightly easier for AA guns to hit. Its large wings can also partially obstruct the camera view of the "gunner" AI depending on the drone's roll angle and whether the "gunner" is looking port and starboard.

Protection: Hitpoints

The Reaper has a base armour value of 10.

LEGEND
Green = Hull

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.

Protection: Armour

LEGEND
Teal = ironplate.bisurf
Purple = metalplate.bisurf

.bisurf Parameter	ironplate.bisurf	metalplate.bisurf
Density	7800	7800
Thickness	5	2
bulletPenetrability	200	200
bulletPenetrabilityWithThickness	10	10

The entire length of the Reaper's fuselage, engine, wing pylons, landing gears, and rotors are protected by iron plates that have a thickness of 5 millimetres.

Only the wings (excluding the missile pylons) are specifically protected by metal armour plates that have a thickness of 2 millimetres.

Armament

The drone's AI "gunner" exclusively controls the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles:

AGM-114 Hellfire

Parameter	Value
Base damage value	800
Splash damage value	20
Warhead type	High-Explosive Anti-Tank
Blast radius (metres)	2
Launch velocity (m/s)	0
Maximum speed (m/s)	425

Air-to-ground anti-tank missiles. Can utilise either infrared-homing guidance or laser lock-on.

There is a forced delay of 1 second between missile launches. Hellfire missiles are always soft launched. They need at least 3.25 seconds of flight time to be able to attain a top speed of up to 425 m/s. The missile's warhead has a blast radius of 2 metres.

If the Hellfire is locking on via infrared, smoke-based countermeasures have a 20% chance to temporarily prevent a lock-on. If the Hellfire has already locked onto a target and is flying towards its target, there is also a 20% chance that the missile's seeker will lose lock to smoke countermeasures.

Optics

"Pilot" AI

The camera for the Reaper's "pilot" AI can only switch between day and night vision modes. There is no display for range, but the camera does provide a reading for the Reaper's current grid reference in real-time.

It should be noted that the camera cannot be rotated and is forward-facing only.

"Gunner" AI

The camera for the Reaper's "gunner" AI has the ability to toggle between a day and black-/white-hot thermal vision mode. It has variable zoom capability, with a minimum magnification of 0.9x up to a maximum of 18x zoom. It has readings for the Reaper's current grid reference but does not show the range of a target.

The "gunner" AI's camera can be freely rotated up to a maximum of 180 degrees in either direction horizontally. Vertical rotation is restricted to a maximum elevation of only 26 degrees and a depression of up to 89 degrees.

Avionics

MAWS

The Reaper does not have a Missile Approach Warning System installed. The controller will not be alerted if there are missiles that have already locked onto the drone and are inbound towards it.

RWR

The Reaper does not possess a Radar Warning Receiver. The drone's controller will not be alerted if there are radar-based targeting systems attempting to lock onto it.

IWR

The Reaper lacks an Infrared Warning Receiver. The controller will not be warned if the drone is being locked onto by an infrared-based targeting system.

LWR

The Reaper is not fitted with a Laser Warning Receiver. No warning will be issued to its controller if the drone is being locked onto by laser-based targeting systems.

AI

NOTE: The following information only applies to the AI.

Camouflage rating

Main article: AI Basics: Detection

The Reaper has a camouflage rating of 150.

Cost

Main article: AI Basics: Targeting priority

The Reaper has a cost value of 200000.

Threat values

Main article: AI Basics: Targeting priority

The Reaper is not considered to be a threat to AI-controlled infantry units and other aircraft (0/0). However, ground vehicles consider the Reaper to be an extremely dangerous threat (1) and will attempt to engage it at the first opportunity if they have the weapons to do so.

Noise factor

Main article: AI Basics: Detection

The Reaper has an audible factor of 1.

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.
• Before the release of Patch 1.02 for ArmA 2 (pre-Operation Arrowhead), the Reaper's camera was not stabilised. This made it incredibly difficult for the "gunner" AI to be able to target anything with precision unless the "pilot" AI was flying at a level altitude.
• Prior to the latest Steam version patches (as part of CorePatch), the Reaper suffered from several issues:
  • There was a forced animation delay that would cause human-controlled Reapers to see the (albeit temporary) black fade-in/fade-out overlay upon taking control of the drone.
  • Parts of the drone's model could be seen through by the "gunner" AI if it was being controlled by a human player. The propellers also did not have a motion blur effect when they were fully spun up.
  • The Reaper's laser designator was imprecise (the laser spot was off-centre from where the crosshair was actually pointing) or did not appear at all depending on the target's distance.
• The Reaper is 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

Config/script references

CfgAmmo CfgMagazines CfgWeapons CfgVehicles .bisurf .rvmat

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)