Amentum has been awarded a five-year, $995-million US Air Force contract to modernize and support MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft operations. The company will provide specialized maintenance teams, weapons-loading support, aerospace ground equipment, and enhanced operational processes across multiple domestic and overseas sites. The program emphasizes improvements such as satellite-enabled launch and recovery, upgraded sensor packages, and streamlined ground-control operations to keep the MQ-9 effective in complex and contested environments. The effort follows broader Air Force initiatives to enhance unmanned systems, including upgrades to the RQ-4 Global Hawk, new sensor enhancements for the MQ-9 by Northrop Grumman, Boeing’s collaborative combat drone development, and Kratos UAS modernization projects. The Air Force is also experimenting with advanced autonomy and data-sharing systems to enable higher endurance and more independent unmanned missions.
