USAF moves to accelerate massed modular aircraft development

MQ-9A losses during the Iran war have accelerated the effort to replace them with Massed Modular Aircraft. (General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc)

US Air Force leaders said that development of the massed modular aircraft (MMA) is being accelerated in the wake of General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper losses since the onset of the war in Iran.

“Candidly, as a result of some of the losses that we've experienced in combat operations, that discussion sort of got accelerated,” Lieutenant General Chris Niemi, USAF Deputy Chief of Staff, Force Modernization, and Chief Modernization Officer, told reporters during a 3 September 2026 roundtable.

“We're seeing this in our experience in the Middle East and as we look at threats around the world, that you need to have a portfolio of assets that's more attritable than the ones we've historically had,” he added.

Lt Gen Chris Niemi said that MQ-9A losses will take years to replace and that patience will be required to build an MMA fleet capable of supplanting the platform.

“The reality is that there's not a lot of good options to immediately replace those aircraft that have been lost,” he said. “Certainly, within a few years you very quickly get to the point where you have more aircraft and they're the kind of aircraft you want if you pursue MMA…I can't buy an MMA today. The reality is based on the budget and other constraints that I'm not going to buy a whole lot of [General Atomics] MQ-9Bs today either.”

The effort accelerates previously reported timelines that projected 20 MMAs to reach initial operating capability by 2031.

Major General Joe Kunkel, Military Deputy, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), said that timelines to field an MMA prototype could take roughly three years.