Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday that its forces shot down a US “MQ-1” drone over the Strait of Hormuz as tensions remain high in the region amid the continued US blockade of Iranian ports.
It’s unclear if the “MQ-1” Iran referred to was an MQ-1 Predator drone, which was officially retired in 2018, or a different variant of the unmanned aircraft, the MQ-1C Gray Eagle, which remains in service.
A few months ago, the Pentagon acknowledged losing an MQ-1 drone, but US Central Command wouldn’t say which variant it was when asked by The War Zone, which noted that reactivating the Predator drone could be an attractive option for the Pentagon since it has lost so many MQ-9 Reaper drones.
According to a report from The Washington Post last month, the US has lost 45 MQ-9s, or 25% of its entire fleet, since it launched the war against Iran. MQ-9s cost between $30 billion and $50 billion to manufacture, meaning the 45 lost in the Iran war could cost up to $2.25 billion to replace.
The US has used the MQ-9 extensively in the war, both for surveillance in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf and in airstrikes on Iran. Despite the high attrition rate, Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, the chief of the US Air Force, previously dubbed the drones the “most valuable player” of the US-Israeli bombing campaign, which killed more than 3,400 Iranians, around half of whom were civilians.
