Estimated financial losses total around $700 million. No additional details were provided. As of March 9, 11 drones had been confirmed downed.

0.7 Billion lost… not that MQ-9s are cheap as far as drones go but the idea that mass attributable sophisticated drones are cheap is not the rule people seem to be convinced it is.

Fixed wing aircraft are vulnerable, the whole point of the MQ-9 was to aid in security operations where air dominance could be assumed without placing a human into a vulnerable position… i.e. it isn’t thatttt hard to shoot down a MQ-9 so a human flying an equivalent close air support role would survive only for so long before the resistance got their hands on something serious to shoot it down.

This is another example that fixed wing platforms whether they are manned or unmanned are not necessarily survivable in the highest threat environments. The agility of helicopters (manned or unmanned) is an echo of the same design priorities that are expressed and built upon with smaller FPV style drones. Both platforms rely upon a deep unpredictability married to moderately high speed that provides a unique capability that is very difficult to defend against.