USAF: There is No MQ-Next, Yet

摘要

The Air Force is starting to field some enhanced capabilities for the MQ-9 Reaper fleet that will better prepare it to operate in more denied environments while also moving away from the idea of an "MQ-Next" direct follow-on for the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). While the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center has released two requests for information (RFI) looking at future RPA capabilities, those requests were just "market research," not the beginning of an MQ-9 replacement, said Col. William S. Rogers, the program executive officer for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and special operations forces, on Aug. 3. One RFI looked at what type of multirole RPA members of private industry could produce, and the other looked at airborne sensing and high-value asset protection.