Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper on July 14 said that he envisions fielding a multi-mission follow-on to the General Atomics' MQ-9 Reaper by 2030 and that he hopes to accelerate that timeline. "Absolutely, we can get there by 2030," Roper told reporters in response to a question on the follow-on during a virtual press availability. "In a digitally engineered future, 10 years is an eternity. I would hope we can spiral multiple times within that 10 years. The key is...that if all we do is replace the MQ-9 mission, we've really generated a bill for the Air Force. We haven't saved it any funding to be able to afford the program itself." Roper's comments come as the House Appropriations Committee is recommending the reversal of the U.S. Air Force's proposed end in fiscal 2021 of the MQ-9 Reaper production line and the acceleration before 2030 of the fielding of a to-be-determined follow-on drone, "MQ-Next."
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