CENTCOM: Another MQ-9 Reaper Crashed on April 9th
CENTCOM confirms another MQ-9 Reaper drone crash over Iran, bringing the total to 8 losses in April alone and 24 since the start of "Operation Epic Fury."
In a fresh and sobering update released just hours ago, U.S. Central Command has now officially acknowledged that one more MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed on April 9 during operations over Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury.
This single loss, quietly confirmed today by CENTCOM sources, is the latest blow in what has become a catastrophic attrition rate for America’s elite drone fleet.
The Reaper, valued at over $30 million, went down amid intense Iranian air-defense activity. While CENTCOM has not yet detailed the exact cause (hostile fire or technical mishap), the timing lines up precisely with the brutal wave of losses already reported: eight Reapers downed in April alone, pushing the verified total to 24 destroyed since the war began.
Over $720 million in American unmanned firepower, vaporized in under six weeks.
This latest admission comes as the Pentagon continues to press the fight deep inside Iranian territory, even as the Reaper fleet is being systematically hunted by Tehran’s upgraded SAM systems. No public footage has been released yet, but Iranian state media is already celebrating the April 9 downing as another “victory against the Great Satan’s eyes in the sky.”
CENTCOM’s silence has finally cracked on this specific incident, a rare public nod to the brutal reality on the battlefield.