U.S. Special Operations Command has requested $75.8 million for the MQ-9 Reaper in its fiscal year 2027 budget, more than triple its current $24.9 million allocation, to expand the platform’s role as a drone mothership, while cutting its OA-1K Skyraider II buy from 75 to 53 aircraft, according to budget documents released this month.
SOCOM is channeling nearly all of the increase into the Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E), Air Force Special Operations Command’s effort to evolve the General Atomics Reaper into an airborne command-and-control node. The request allocates nearly $48 million for 93 Group 2 drones (up to 55 pounds), 10 Group 3 platforms (up to 1,320 pounds), 16 swarm carrier pods, and five human-machine teaming interfaces.
Budget documents describe the Group 2 drones as air-launched intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets, while classifying Group 3 platforms as “signature managed,” meaning they are engineered to reduce their electromagnetic footprint. That designation indicates a potential role in kinetic operations, including strikes against air defense infrastructure in contested airspace.
In November 2025, the Air Force awarded Anduril Industries a $50 million sole-source contract for its ALTIUS-600 Group 2 system, though budget documents note other platforms remain under consideration.
The OA-1K reductions mark the third revision to the Armed Overwatch program’s original 75-aircraft scope. SOCOM has proposed buying just two Skyraider IIs in FY2027, down from six in FY2026. The Government Accountability Office recommended in December 2023 that SOCOM slow the acquisition until formal requirements analysis was complete.
AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Michael E. Conley has defended the aircraft, stating special operations forces will “figure out novel ways that it will be relevant in the future fight as well as the current one.”
A SOCOM spokesperson confirmed the program requirement remains 75 aircraft, with the procurement cut attributed to “strategic reallocation of resources to support SOCOM evolving priorities.”
