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Sep 15

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A US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft in flight against an overcast sky

US Air Force · Iran

Pentagon Counts 30 Reapers Lost in Iran War, No Line to Rebuild

The first official Pentagon accounting of the Iran war lists as many as 30 MQ-9 Reapers destroyed, more than every crewed aircraft loss combined.

Haye KestelooSep 156 min read

Three B-52H Stratofortress bombers parked in the open on the flight line at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana

Department of Defense

STRATCOM Calls Ukraine's Spiderweb Raid 'Utterly Eye-Opening' as Drones Circle US Nuclear Bases

A STRATCOM official calls Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb 'utterly eye-opening' as the command running America's nuclear triad studies counter-drone defense.

Haye KestelooAug 26

Shield AI's X-BAT fighter drone standing tail-first on its launch trailer in a jungle clearing

Industry

Navy Puts $50 Million On Shield AI's X-BAT While The Air Force Watches

The Navy and Defense Innovation Unit are investing $50 million in Shield AI's X-BAT, a tail-landing fighter drone that has never flown. The Air Force is deliberately sitting this one out, and the hard part is the landing.

Haye KestelooAug 20

Red Cat Black Widow drone seen head-on, showing its forward camera payload and folding arms

Interview

Red Cat Has Air Force Black Widows Built as Army Tests AiN

Red Cat's entire $2.49 million Air Force Black Widow order is built and waiting, Divisional CEO Mitch McDonald told DroneXL, as the Army assesses the company's new Palantir-equipped AiN payload on its own factory floor.

Rafael SuárezAug 18

Red Cat Black Widow small drone flying above a dry field

Air Force

Red Cat Lands $2.49M Air Force Test Against Its Own Teal 2

Red Cat's Teal Drones won a $2.49 million Air Force order to evaluate Black Widow as a potential successor to the Security Forces' current Teal 2 fleet.

Rafael SuárezJul 31

Germany

In Berlin Four CCAs Face Off for Germany

Berlin Air Show this week, each chasing the same prize: the contract to fly as Germany's robotic wingman by 2029.

Rafael SuárezJun 14

Airbus

Airbus A400M to Launch 12 Cruise Missiles or 50 Drones

Airbus just turned its A400M transport into something much more dangerous. On April 18, 2026, the company confirmed a new mothership variant that can launch up to 12 cruise missiles or around 50 drones straight out of the cargo ramp, as reported by Interesting Engineering. The payload stays internal, so the aircraft keeps its range…

Rafael SuárezApr 24

Iran

24 MQ-9 Reapers Lost Over Iran: A $720 Million Problem

Operation Epic Fury has cost the US Air Force 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones since late February. At roughly $30 million per airframe, the losses add up to around $720 million in hardware alone, as National Interest reports. Iranian surface-to-air missiles are doing most of the shooting, and the clusters of lost drones map almost perfectly…

Rafael SuárezApr 20

US Air Force

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