Another operator of the MQ-9 Reaper at Kadena is the US Air Force's 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, whose role is to conduct airborne reconnaissance in the region in coordination with Japan’s Ministry of Defense.(Mike Yeo / Breaking Defense)
FARNBOROUGH — General Atomics will propose a new, clean-sheet aircraft for the Pentagon’s Massed Modular Aircraft project for a cheap hunter-killer drone, but the CEO of its aeronautics division is skeptical that competing companies will be able to achieve the lower end of the cost target laid out by the Defense Innovation Unit.
In a Monday interview at Farnborough Airshow, Dave Alexander said he was “1,000 percent confident” the legacy dronemaker will be able to hit a number within the price range specified by DIU, but that the Pentagon will need to relax its bid requirements for certified pricing if it wants to get its lowest cost target.
“I believe they put a silly goal in here for a low-end [cost],” he told Breaking Defense. “Anybody that bids that number is very suspicious.”
“If you want a commercial product, then don’t put certified bid requirements on the product,” he added. “Don’t, if you want commercial pricing.”
