In March of 2023, Russia sent a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet to intercept an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea to prevent it from entering Russian airspace over Crimea. Currently, the U. S. military uses 23 drone models, ranging from hand-launched devices to ones larger than many commercial aircraft.
By consulting a variety of resources on military technology, 24/7 Wall St. compiled a list of all currently known unmanned aerial vehicles used by the U. S. military. The drones are listed in alphabetical order.
Out of the 23 identified vehicles, Northrop Grumman, a major military contractor, produces five, including the most expensive drone in the current American fleet, the MQ-4C Triton. Costing $180 million, the Triton, is a high-altitude, long-range surveillance aircraft that was commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 2018. The Triton is one of two drones that cost upwards of $100 million.
Five relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft on this list are produced by AeroVironment, which manufactures small UAVs designed for both civilian and military use. One AeroVironment drone is the $6,000 Switchblade 300, a tube-launched loitering munition that weighs 5.5 pounds and measures 2 feed in length. These weapon systems, also called kamikaze drones, are being supplied by the Pentagon to Ukrainian forces and used against invading Russian forces.
Costing between $10 million and $60 million, five U.S military drones are manufactured by General Atomics, a San Diego-based private energy and defense company. Among these is the $20 million armed Predator reconnaissance drone.
Some U.S. military drones cost less than $50,000, such as the Coyote, made by Waltham, Massachusetts-based defense contractor Raytheon. Similar to the economical drones produced by AeroVironment, the Coyote is an disposable tube-launched “kamikaze” drone, designed for intercepting and destroying small attack drones.
Here are the drones used by the U.S. military:
Black Hornet Nano
- Primary use: Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: $190,000
- Manufacturer: Grotmol Solutions
- Dimensions: 0.4 feet (length)
Coyote
- Primary use: Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: $15,000
- Manufacturer: Raytheon
- Dimensions: 4.9 feet (wingspan)
CQ-10 Snowgoose
- Primary use: Aerial supply, aerial surveillance, and communications relay
- Cost: $650,000
- Manufacturer: MMIST
- Dimensions: 9.5 feet (wingspan)
MQ-19 Aerosonde
- Primary use: Reconnaissance, surveillance, and data collection
- Cost: $100,000
- Manufacturer: AAI Corporation
- Dimensions: 9.5 feet (wingspan)
MQ-1B Predator
- Primary use: Armed reconnaissance, airborne surveillance, and target acquisition
- Cost: $20.0 million
- Manufacturer: General Atomics
- Dimensions: 55 feet (wingspan)
MQ-1C Gray Eagle
- Primary use:Reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and ground strikes
- Cost: $21.5 million
- Manufacturer: General Atomics
- Dimensions: 29.5 feet (wingspan)
MQ-4C Triton
- Primary use: Persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: $180.0 million
- Manufacturer: Northrop Grumman
- Dimensions: 130.9 feet (wingspan)
MQ-8B Fire Scout/MQ-8C Fire Scout
- Primary use: Reconnaissance, classification, targeting, and battle management
- Cost: $27.5 million
- Manufacturer: Northrop Grumman
- Dimensions: 31.5 feet (length)
MQ-9 Reaper
- Primary use: Intelligence collection in support of strikes, coordination, and reconnaissance
- Cost: $56.5 million
- Manufacturer: General Atomics, L3Harris, Raytheon
- Dimensions: 66 feet (wingspan)
Northrop Grumman Bat
- Primary use: Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: Unknown
- Manufacturer: Northrop Grumman
- Dimensions: 12 feet (wingspan)
Phoenix Ghost
- Primary use: Ground attack, Close-air support, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: Unknown
- Manufacturer: Aevex Aerospace
- Dimensions: Unknown
RQ-11 Raven
- Primary use: Low-altitude Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: $260,000
- Manufacturer: AeroVironment Inc.
- Dimensions: 4.5 feet (wingspan)
RQ-12 Wasp
- Primary use: Reconnaissance and surveillance with low-altitude operation
- Cost: $49,000
- Manufacturer: AeroVironment Inc.
- Dimensions: 2.4 feet (wingspan)
RQ-170 Sentinel
- Primary use: Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare
- Cost: $6.0 million
- Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
- Dimensions: 46 to 90 feet (wingspan)
RQ-180
- Primary use: Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: Unknown
- Manufacturer: Northrop Grumman
- Dimensions: 164 feet (wingspan)
RQ-20 Puma
- Primary use: Surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting
- Cost: $250,000
- Manufacturer: AeroVironment Inc.
- Dimensions: 9.2 feet (wingspan)
RQ-21 Blackjack
- Primary use: Surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition, and communication relay
- Cost: $11.9 million
- Manufacturer: Insitu Inc.
- Dimensions: 15.7 feet (wingspan)
RQ-4 Global Hawk
- Primary use: High-altitude, long-endurance Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: $130.0 million
- Manufacturer: Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, L3Harris
- Dimensions: 130.9 feet (wingspan)
RQ-7 Shadow
- Primary use: Reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and force protection
- Cost: $632,500
- Manufacturer: AAI Corporation
- Dimensions: 20 feet (wingspan)
ScanEagle
- Primary use: Reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition
- Cost: $3.2 million
- Manufacturer: Insitu Inc.
- Dimensions: 10.2 feet (wingspan)
Stalker
- Primary use: Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
- Cost: $1.4 million
- Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
- Dimensions: 16 feet (wingspan)
Switchblade 300
- Primary use: Reconnaissance and precision strikes
- Cost: $6,000
- Manufacturer: AeroVironment Inc.
- Dimensions: 2 feet (length)
Switchblade 600
- Primary use: Reconnaissance and anti-armor precision strikes
- Cost: $10,000
- Manufacturer: AeroVironment Inc.
- Dimensions: 5.9 feet (length)
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