Air Force wants to transform the MQ-9 Reaper into a drone mothership for its special operators

In the wildly popular science-fiction book series The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells, the title character is supported by a swarm of drones that he controls to serve as communications relays, sensors, targeters, recon and attack vessels, and anything else he might need. Whereas that series is still wholly fiction, here in reality we might be one step closer to this capability through a new $50 million U.S. Air Force acquisition program.

The $50 million contract was awarded to Anduril Industries to produce Altius 600 drones for Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) in an effort that could transform the MQ-9 Reaper into a “drone-launching mothership.” This type of capability takes what is referred to as an “air-launched effects” (ALE) mission – in which a manned aircraft launches drones – and transforms it, in effect, into an unmanned ALE mission.

AFSOC has been developing an unmanned ALE capability through its Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) program. The A2E effort essentially involves using a long-range unmanned aircraft systems, like the Reaper, to transport and launch smaller drones which would then be able to cover a greater area in the battlespace than a Reaper could reach on its own.

These Altius 600 drones, once launched from a Reaper, would then collectively serve as a deployable grid of sensors used to find targets, provide battlefield intelligence, or act as communications relays for special operations forces in the field. Presumably, the Altius will be too small to carry their own weapons systems for attacking targets, but other armed Reapers or even manned aircraft could fill that role and act on targeting information.

Meanwhile, the Reaper mothership that launched the smaller drones would act as the mobile command and control center for its own drone swarm. The Reaper itself would presumably be directed remotely from some forward operating base in theater by AFSOC or other trained personnel. It is a true distributed command-and-control network, scalable to the needs of the mission, and a capability that would be well-suited for denied areas inaccessible to human troops and piloted-aircraft.

An Altius employee inserts a common launch tube into the dual launch pod of an MQ-9 Reaper in preparation for an Airborne Adaptive Enterprise (A2E) demonstration at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., Nov. 28, 2023. Adaptive Airborne Enterprise marks the evolution from exclusively using the MQ-9 platform for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. MQ-9 units will leverage multiple platforms and later incorporate autonomy to deliver capabilities to special operations forces and the joint force across the spectrum of operations. Air Force Special Operations Command expects to increase the number of platforms its operators can manage by an order of magnitude and, through those systems, the area of the battlespace they affect. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Nicholas Swift)

According to Air & Space Forces Magazine, the small Altius 600 drone is specially designed for an ALE mission, and can reportedly be launched from an AC-130J Ghostrider fixed-wing aircraft, or from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Presumably it will not be difficult to modify both the ALTIUS 600 and the Reaper so that the small airframe can launch from the MQ-9, as well. A test of that capability, in fact, reportedly took place in 2023 when an Altius 600 was launched from a small “launch pod” attached to a Reaper. That same Reaper was then controlled remotely by personnel using AFSOC’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft Control Suite.

The AFSOC A2E program, when and if it becomes fully operational in this manner, would be another significant milestone in the transition of the modern battlefield into one largely dominated by drone warfare. That is not to say that humans are close to being removed from the battlespace, but rather that unmanned vehicles and robots will play ever more significant roles. This quickly-arriving mode of “future” warfare is inexorably coming our way, and this program is just another sign of it. It truly is a revolution happening before our eyes.

Feature Image: Two MQ-9A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft operated by the 3rd Special Operations Squadron undergo pre-flight checks before an experimental multi-aircraft control flight for the Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) at Cannon Air Force Base, NM, Dec. 6, 2023. MQ-9 units will leverage multiple platforms and later incorporate autonomy to deliver capabilities to special operations forces and the joint force across the spectrum of operations (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Vernon R. Walter III) (This photo has been edited for security purposes by blurring out aircraft information.) (Photo by Staff Sgt. Vernon Walter/27th Special Operations Wing)

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