Drone maker unveils ‘low-cost’ alternative to MQ-9 Reaper

California-based Swarm Aero on Monday unveiled a new low-cost unmanned aerial system capable of carrying a payload of more than 2,800 pounds.

The new UAS, dubbed Gamera, comes as the Air Force searches for risk-tolerant aircraft that can be produced cheaply and in large numbers as part of its new Massed Modular Aircraft, or MMA, program.

The company revealed the platform at the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual conference near Washington.

In a press release, the company said Gamera is the first UAS designed to carry bomber-class strike munitions such as the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range, or JASSM-ER, as well as other cruise and hypersonic missiles.

The company added that it “will be able to deliver all of the capabilities of the MQ-9, as well as employ payloads that the MQ-9 cannot, at a fraction of the price.”

Although Swarm did not give a specific price point, the company said comparable strike effects would cost 10 times less than existing platforms. The company also cited recent Defense Innovation Unit statements, calling existing systems “unsustainable.” The MQ-9 Reaper purportedly costs more than $30 million apiece.

Oliver Palmer, Swarm’s chief revenue officer and co-founder, explained that the design’s lower cost will enable the U.S. and partner nations to find other civil and commercial applications for the new UAS.

“The next few decades will see a continuous contest with China over global power projection, first focused near China over Taiwan, over time extending globally,” he said. “The [People’s Liberation Army] has built asymmetric ways to challenge our legacy force structure.”

Palmer added that “we cannot continue to pursue incremental improvements in legacy approaches and hope to protect U.S. interests and deter [the People’s Republic of China] coercion of our allies and partners.”

The Gamera is classified as a Group 5 UAS, the largest category of unmanned aircraft under the Defense Department’s classification system. The company said it has a roughly 72-foot wingspan and can fly 9,000 nautical miles before needing to refuel.

Swarm said it has invested tens of millions of dollars into Gamera’s design since it launched in 2022. Over the past four years, the company has been awarded millions in Defense Department contracts and raised more in investments.

The company described Gamera as “well positioned to support the generational transformation the Air Force is advancing with MMA.”