Swarm Aero has unveiled Gamera, a Group 5 military drone aimed at the US Air Force’s Massed Modular Aircraft effort, at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The company is pitching the aircraft as a lower-cost, more attrition-tolerant alternative to the MQ-9 Reaper, with a stated unrefuelled range of more than 9,000 nautical miles and a target unit cost below $10 million.
The design has a 72-foot wingspan, seven hardpoints and a payload capacity of about 2,800 pounds, with compatibility for JASSM-ER-class munitions. Swarm has also positioned the aircraft for long-range strike and sensing roles, including modular payloads for intelligence, surveillance, electronic warfare and communications. The company has been developing Gamera since 2022 and plans to fly a prototype in 2027.
The programme is tied to a broader Pentagon push for cheaper, long-range unmanned aircraft that can be bought in larger numbers. Swarm’s pricing goal remains directional rather than fixed, and the 9,000-nautical-mile range has not yet been demonstrated in flight.