MQ-9 Reaper: US spy drone gets e-warfare pods to disappear off enemy radars

The United States Marine Corps has added an electronic warfare pod to its small fleet of MQ-9 Reaper drones, which can help in making it untraceable from enemy sensors.

The pod, known as the Reaper Defense Electronic Support System / Scalable Open Architecture Reconnaissance (RDESS/SOAR), is a broad spectrum, passive Electronic Support Measure (ESM) payload designed to collect and geo-locate signals of interest from standoff ranges, according to General Atomics.

According to a Marine Corps official, the pod helps the MQ-9 Reaper become almost “undetectable” and “somewhat disappear” off enemy radars.

The RDESS/SOAR pod for MQ-9 Reaper

According to General Atomics, the pod enables the Reaper to become an even more versatile surveillance aircraft “given its ability to conduct electronic sensing well enough to provide high quality intelligence but also keep safely away in friendly or international airspace.”

The US Air Force had first tested the pod for MQ-9 Reaper in collaboration with General Atomics and L3Harris Technologies way back in April 2021.

The flights had been accomplished via remote split operations that allowed the Air Force’s 26 ^th Weapons Squadron (WPS) to both fly the aircraft and control the RDESS payload from within the United States while the MQ-9 flew in Europe.

However, the addition of the pods to the Marine Corps fleet of Reapers is fairly new and was confirmed by Gen. Eric M. Smith, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, at a forum on Tuesday, according to a report by The War Zone .

It is unclear when the Marine Corps tested it and fielded it. Moreover, the official, citing security reasons, refused to elaborate on the pod’s capabilities and what the unit aims to attain with its addition to the Reapers.

As per General Atomics, the SOAR pod provides long-range detection, identification, and location of radar and communication signals of interest. It enables the aircraft or drone operators to “provide standoff surveillance—seeing threats before threats can see the aircraft—and communicate actionable intelligence.”

The 634 pound (287.6 kg) pod aids in long-range persistent surveillance of enemy communications, and it also enables multi-intelligence target identification and tracking in real time.

Marine Corps and the Reaper

The Marine Corps have been using Reapers since 2018. They had first been leased from General Atomics, but in late 2020 they were granted permission to procure two MQ-9A Block 5 Reapers.

The Marines operate a small fleet of the Reapers as of now, but they plan to field at least 18 of them by 2025.

As part of an effort to fill out new squadrons with uncrewed systems, the Marine Corps has reached a critical milestone of 100 trained pilots for its General Atomics MQ-9 “Reaper” drones.

They are aiming to extend the Corps’ drone-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

According to General Atomics, the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) Reaper has an endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS, can operate up to 50,000 feet, and has a 3,850 pound (1746 kilogram) payload capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1361 kilograms) of external stores.

It offers flexibility and can be used for various surveillance and attack missions owing to its ability to carry radar and different weapons, as per the operational needs.

The MQ-9A Extended Range (ER) was designed with field-retrofittable capabilities such as wing-borne fuel pods and a new reinforced landing gear that extends the aircraft’s endurance from 27 hours to 34 hours, while further increasing its operational flexibility.

Apart from the various services in the US, the Reaper is also used by the Italian Air Force, the French Air Force, among others, and also has multiple other countries lining up.

It continues to assert its dominance, and with the addition of the pod it can become an even deadlier and more desirable drone in today’s day and age.