Swarm Aero has unveiled its contender for the U.S. Air Force’s Massed Modular Aircraft requirement for a new-generation, large, long-range uncrewed aircraft system (UAS). At the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber conference on Monday, the start-up introduced the Gamera drone, which it claims will deliver a tenfold reduction in cost-per-effect compared with current platforms such as the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper.
The Group 5 UAS is expected to have a payload of 2,800 pounds and be able to carry bomber-class strike munitions such as LRASM/JASSM-ER missiles. According to Swarm, it will have an unrefueled range of 9,000 nm and be powered by Honeywell Aerospace’s TPE331 turboprop engine.
In July, the U.S. Air Force and the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) launched the MMA (Massed Modular Aircraft) program, specifying requirements for a payload of at least 2,800 pounds and range of 8,000 nm. Efforts to bring lower-cost large drones into service have become more urgent with the Air Force reportedly having lost 45 Reapers—around a quarter of its fleet—in the ongoing military conflict with Iran.
Last week, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) unveiled its own alternative to the Reaper in the shape of the Wildfire drone. According to the manufacturer, the new UAS will be able to carry four AGM-184 Joint Strike Missiles and multiple sensors and other equipment.
The DIU’s original timeline for fielding 20 of the new mission-ready drones was set for the 2031 fiscal year. However, GA-ASI now says it aims to be able to produce more than 40 drones ahead of that date.
Swarm Aero has been working on plans for the 72-foot-wingspan Gamera since 2022 and has worked on several prototypes. In June, during its Fleet Experimentation exercise in Florida, the U.S. Navy evaluated the Legion command-and-control software that will be used to manage the deployment of swarming drones.
“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,” commented Oliver Palmer, Swarm Aero’s co-founder and chief revenue officer. “The People’s Liberation Army has built asymmetric ways to challenge our legacy force structure. We cannot continue to pursue incremental improvements in legacy approaches and hope to protect U.S. interests and deter PRC coercion of our allies and partners.”
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