GoKawiilRipple effect: The US campaign against Iran is estimated by one tracker to have cost over $113 billion, a figure that includes the loss of dozens of Reaper drones collectively worth about $1 billion. This has led to the Pentagon looking for cheaper hunter-killer drones that can be sacrificed without massive financial implications.
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Pentagon organization that pulls commercial tech into the military, has opened submissions for a project called Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA).
The plan is that the US wants a theater-range drone that is cheaper, modular, and built around the expectation that some will be lost.
DIU says the Joint Force's reliance on low-density, high-value "exquisite" aircraft costing more than $30 million is unsustainable when adversaries are using cheap anti-aircraft systems. As such, the military wants larger numbers of less-expensive unmanned aircraft that can push into contested airspace and remain useful even when losses mount.
DIU's ideal MMA would carry at least 2,800 pounds of payload, have a 2,300-nautical-mile unrefueled combat radius, self-deploy one-way for at least 8,000 nautical miles, and reach at least 200 knots (230 mph).
These specs don't exactly scream "budget drone," of course. For comparison, General Atomics says the MQ-9A Reaper can stay airborne for more than 27 hours, fly up to 50,000 feet, and carry 3,850 pounds. But it is slow, very expensive, and increasingly awkward where adversaries have modern air defenses.
Air Force officials told lawmakers in May that about two dozen MQ-9As had been lost during Operation Epic Fury against Iran. Other reports put the tally closer to 30. Depending on configuration, officials have said a Reaper can cost up to $50 million, and the MQ-9A production line was shut down in 2025.
The US has already started moving toward less wallet-destroying drones. Reuters reported in March that the Pentagon debuted the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, in Iran just eight months after its unveiling. That drone costs around $35,000, uses open architecture, and is modeled after Iran's Shahed designs.
DIU wants a full-scale prototype flight within 21 months of an award, with initial operating capability in fiscal 2031. That means 20 mission-ready aircraft delivered to an operational unit.
Auterion's Nemyx system, a Pentagon contract for 33,000 AI-equipped strike kits, and plans to use an "unmanned hellscape" of drones to defend Taiwan have all point in the same direction, with drone warfare moving toward cheap, expendable units designed to overwhelm air defenses. When you're prepared to lose large numbers of drones, each one had better not cost a fortune.