The 19 last December, the Ministry of the Armed Forces announced that the MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) MQ-9 Reaper drones of the Air Force operating from the Niamey base in Niger were going to be equipped with GBU-12 laser-guided bombs. If the main mission of the Reapers remains intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), they are now able to quickly deliver precision weaponry to a target of opportunity, without having to wait for reinforcements from fighters deployed in the region. . The combat validation of this new capability did not take long, since the first bomb was dropped on an enemy position barely two days later.
Reaper drones, manufactured by the American manufacturer General Atomics, have been in service with the Air Force since 2014, replacing Harfang drones. They have been permanently deployed in the Sahel since 2016, a device that has been lost a year ago when he returned from a mission. In total, France ordered four Reaper systems, each consisting of three MQ-9 drones, but the decision to arm them only came in 2017.
However, the MQ-9 Reaper was designed from the outset to be able to carry a substantial quantity of weapons, each of its four hardpoints being able to carry a 250kg bomb or two light Hellfire missiles. However, with the exception of the United Kingdom, Reaper export customers all initially chose to assign their drones to ISR missions only[efn_note]Since then, in addition to France, Italy has also undertaken to modify its Reapers to allow them to deliver weapons.[/efn_note].
In France, this choice was motivated by several reasons:
- On the one hand, it made it possible to obtain new drones more quickly, at a lower cost, and with reduced training time for the crews. A strong argument given the urgent need in the Sahelo-Saharan strip for persistent intelligence tools.
- On the other hand, it was also a political and diplomatic issue. MALE drones suffer from poor representation in mainstream entertainment and information media, which often give them an – erroneous – image of “killer robots”. By equipping itself with unarmed Reapers, France (and other European Reaper client nations) thus dissociates itself from American operating methods, targeted assassinations and the associated collateral damage.
- Finally, we must not neglect certain internal dissensions within the Air Force either. Some executives indeed see the arrival of armed drones as a potential threat to the Air Force fighter format, whose objective stated in the latest military programming law is 185 aircraft. A fear which is far from unfounded in view of the British situation, which will de facto replacing its Tornadoes with a mix of armed F-35s and MQ-9s.
In any case, the arming of ISR platforms is in tune with the times. This allows for greater responsiveness and immediate support to allied forces, while freeing fighter-bombers for other ground strike missions. France also has real experience in the field, through the use of Atlantic 2 maritime patrol aircraft, regularly used in the Sahel for ISR missions and capable of firing laser-guided bombs. On the operational level, the armament capacity of the MQ-9 Reaper is therefore established as an extension of the well-controlled use of the Atlantique 2. On the political and diplomatic level, however, this is an upheaval much deeper.
Indeed, even though France has used unarmed drones for several years in the Sahel, it has been accused on multiple occasions of carrying out political assassinations through drone strikes, particularly on social networks. Disinformation campaigns which often originate in France but which sometimes fuel real resentment towards the Barkhane force.
For the Air Force, which already plays the game of transparency, the issue of communication around Reaper drones will therefore be essential, especially since it does not lack solid arguments. Thus, unlike what is done in the United States, French Reaper pilots do not operate from their metropolitan base. They are deployed in Niamey, on the ground, and experience the same rhythm of operations as fighter or transport plane pilots. They are confronted with realities on the ground, interact directly with the forces they support and get involved in local life in the same way. In addition, the Air Force has chosen to have a crew of four people per Reaper drone, compared to two for the USAF. In addition to the pilot and the sensor operator in charge of the optronic equipment, an intelligence officer and an image analyst are present to interpret the ISR data. As for the validation of firing orders, this is carried out on Reaper drones with the same rules of engagement as for weapon aircraft, the centralization of detection and firing means on the same platform simply reducing the time between target identification and destruction.
If you feel like you want to take the rumors of an upcoming American withdrawal from the Sahel are confirmed, the pressure on the Air Force will increase considerably, both for logistical transport operations and for ISR missions. The closure of the very recent American base in Agadez in Niger, from where the USAF operates its own Reapers, would further increase the need for French MALE drones.
In any case, American withdrawal or not, there should be no shortage of opportunities for French MQ-12s to fire GBU-9s in the months to come. By the end of 2020, the Reapers should also be equipped with Hellfire missiles, already used on Tiger helicopters. More flexible in use, and with a lighter load, the Hellfire should make it possible to extend the range of use of armed Reapers. While waiting for a Euro-MALE which is becoming more and more desired, the MQ-9 Reaper in armed configuration will permanently constitute the top of the spectrum of unmanned intelligence and strike capabilities of the French armies, which should be supplemented in the years to come by the Safran Patroller, operated by the Army earthen.