Iran destroyed 20 percent of US's MQ-9 Reaper drone fleet: Report

Iran destroyed 20 percent of US's MQ-9 Reaper drone fleet: Report Submitted by MEE staff on Fri, 05/22/2026 - 21:08 The US has lost around $1bn to Reaper drones destroyed by Iran, compounding the cost of war A US military MQ-9 Reaper drone approaches for landing at Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, on 29 December 2025 (Miguel J Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP) Off Iran has destroyed $1bn worth of MQ-9 Reaper Drones, or roughly 20 percent of the US’s pre- war inventory of the sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a report by Bloomberg on Friday. The report said that many of the drones were downed by Iran in flight, but that others had been destroyed on the ground when Iran targeted US military bases in the Gulf. The MQ-9 is both a surveillance drone and capable of carrying a payload, typically Hellfire missiles or Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs.