Russia Plans to Reverse Engineer Intercepted US MQ-9 Reaper Drone

Russia is mulling a plan to reverse-engineer the American MQ-9 Reaper drone that it recently intercepted in the Black Sea.

The nation downed the unmanned platform when its Su-27 fighter jets collided with it on March 14, causing it to crash in international waters.

A spokesperson from the state-owned Rostec corporation said the wreckage of the surveillance drone “is of interest” to the country’s defense industry.

Any part of the system located by Russian vessels will be “stripped down to the last bolt” and subjected to thorough examination.

The representative further noted that Moscow is closely following the achievements of the foreign defense industry, especially its success in producing sophisticated defense systems.

“To create a successful product, one needs to understand what your competition is up to. That goes for drones, artillery, armored vehicles. and other types of weapons,” he said.

Not Easy

Ukrainian expert Oleksandr Karpyuk took to social media reacting to speculation that Russia would make a copy of the MQ-9 to be used against enemy assets.

He said that if Moscow really wants to develop a similar product, it must also have a highly sophisticated industrial complex and access to technology.

General Atomics’ Reaper drone utilizes a satellite connection to allow operators to use the system globally while remaining in the US.

Russia and Iran must first develop a satellite similar to the one that the MQ-9 is using if they want to create a replica of the drone system.

“So, when you look at how and what decisions Russia and Iran have been copying all this time from foreign drones, you realize that the main thing they were copying was the form of the planner and the internal layout of the knots. This is their level. They will be able to copy the Reaper only in the form of a model,” Karpyuk wrote.