$330 Million In U.S. Reaper Drones Suffer Grim Fate In Operation Epic Fury
CBS News sources confirmed that over the eleven-day course of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. lost eleven General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones. At roughly $30 million apiece, the losses likely cost taxpayers more than $330 million.
The report is based on information from two U.S. officials, who said that losses of the drones, which are designed for long-endurance surveillance and precision strike missions, have reached eleven so far.
There has been OSINT coverage on X of these MQ-9s in action over Iran, as well as alleged footage of crashes.
A U.S. MQ-9 Reaper was reportedly shot down by IRGC Aerospace forces today Over Hormozgan Province, Iran. pic.twitter.com/g0ER9J19R7
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 7, 2026
Footage from on the ground near the Southern Iranian city of Shiraz captured an MQ-9 Reaper with the U.S. Air Force firing an AGM-114 “Hellfire” Air-to-Surface Missile against a ballistic missile launcher that had revealed itself and was preparing to launch against Israel or… pic.twitter.com/RocAHQSD9F
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 1, 2026
Footage of a US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper UAV engaging an Iranian missile launcher with an AGM-114 Hellfire via @hey_itsmyturn. pic.twitter.com/vwjePW6ivU
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 1, 2026
MQ-9s have a flight endurance of 27 hours and can operate at altitudes of 50,000 feet with an airspeed of 240 knots. Payload capacity is 3,850 pounds, including external storage pods for weapons and sensors.
The best available figure for how many of these drones U.S. forces operate comes from the Air Force’s FY2026 budget documents, which show there are 424 in total. The loss of eleven drones would represent about 2.6% of the overall inventory.
Related:
- U.S. Military-Industrial Complex Agrees To Quadruple Bomb Production As Operation Epic Fury Rages On
At the start of the week, U.S. CENTCOM revealed that U.S. forces struck around 5,000 IRGC targets, including 50 naval ships. CENTCOM stated that it targeted the Iranian military’s command-and-control centers and other hubs, integrated air defense systems, ballistic missile sites, warships and submarines, anti-ship missiles, military communications facilities, and plants for ballistic missile and drone manufacturing.