The US military has lost about a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The report said the MQ-9s had been lost both on the ground and in the air as Iranian missile and drone attacks have hit US bases across the region, and the drones have been used to launch airstrikes over Iran.
Each MQ-9 Reaper drone costs at least $30 million to produce, meaning the US has lost about $360 million worth of the drones in less than three weeks. The US has also lost several manned aircraft, including three F-15 fighter jets and one KC-135 refueling tanker, which crashed in Iraq, killing all six crewmembers onboard.
The US employed the MQ-9 frequently in its drone wars, but the large, low-flying drone is very vulnerable to air defenses. During US bombing campaigns in Yemen in 2024 and 2025, the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, managed to shoot down around 20 MQ-9s.
MQ-9s are flown remotely by drone pilots in the US, and, according to the Journal report, they have been firing 250-pound small diameter bombs, which have a longer range than the Hellfire missiles MQ-9s are usually equipped with. The report said that the US has been flying about 10 MQ-9s over Iran at a time.
