GA-ASI MQ-9 Reaper

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) --
The 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron proved the MQ-9 Reaper’s Automatic Takeoff and Landing Capability (ATLC) is ready as of July 8, enabling crews to divert to airfields without traditional launch and recovery infrastructure or personnel. This capability is a key enabler for MQ-9 Agile Combat Employment and, combined with the MQ-9’s next software upgrade and receipt of the portable aircraft control station, will change how it will be employed in theaters worldwide.
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The team again proved the capability [...] using the targeting pod to survey the runway, feed the ATLC system the data needed to fly an airport traffic pattern, land, and take off again.

Initially published ATLC procedures required an MQ-9 to be at the airfield of operation to taxi down the runway and have the aircrew electronically mark reference points when the aircraft was physically in position on the runway. The sorties proved that requirement obsolete. The technology and 556th TES-derived tactics are ready today for the aircraft to divert to a foreign field where an MQ-9 has never been before, and there is no longer a requirement for specialized infrastructure to land the unmanned aerial vehicle.
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www.af.mil

MQ-9 Agile Combat Employment: A big step closer to reality

The 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron proved the MQ-9 Reaper’s Automatic Takeoff and Landing Capability (ATLC) is ready as of July 8, enabling crews to divert to airfields without traditional launch
www.af.mil
 
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The 489th Attack Squadron recently made history as the first attack squadron under the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing to utilize the MQ-9 Reaper’s Automatic Takeoff and Landing Capability (ATLC) Aug 3, 2021, during a routine training flight.

ATLC is a key enabler for MQ-9 Agile Combat Employment and is expected to change how the MQ-9 will be employed in theaters worldwide. Previously, all ACC MQ-9 takeoffs and landings utilizing ATLC were tested by the 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron [(see post above)].
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As the Air Force continues to accelerate innovation, the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Enterprise may see it’s roles and capabilities evolve with the MQ-9 Reaper’s ATLC.

“ATLC is the next step in the evolution of this platform,” Travis said. “It allows us to focus on the capabilities that we need in the future. We’ll be able to deploy more rapidly to airfields that we haven't been able to access previously and do that in a way, that’s safe, repeatable and predictable for our joint partners and geographic combatant commands.”
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www.acc.af.mil

489th ATKS utilizes new MQ-9 Capability

The 489th Attack Squadron recently made history as the first attack squadron under the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing to utilize the MQ-9 Reaper’s Automatic Takeoff and Landing Capability
www.acc.af.mil

As a side note, Fr AF (AdlAE) just dropped their first laser guided bomb operationally from their new MQ-9 block 5, reaching FOC:

 
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Amazing stats from the MQ-9 used by the AdlAE task force in Africa (in Fr):
En attendant, l’apport des drones MALE [Moyenne Altitude Longue Endurance] Reaper appartenant au standard Block 1 est indéniable. En 2020, ceux engagés au Sahel ont assuré 58 % des frappes aériennes [contre 29% pour les Mirage 2000 et 13% pour les hélicoptères d’attaque, ndlr] et près de 55% du renseignement aérien. Depuis qu’ils sont entrés en service, ces appareils, dont un a été perdu, ont effectué plus de 43’000 heures de vol, dont 92% au profit de la force Barkhane.
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[T]he contribution of the MALE [Medium Altitude Long Endurance] Reaper drones belonging to the Block 1 standard is undeniable. In 2020, those engaged in the Sahel carried out 58% of air strikes [against 29% for the Mirage 2000 and 13% for attack helicopters] and nearly 55% of all ISR missions. Since entering service, the aircraft, including the one that was lost, have flown more than 43,000 hours, 92 percent of which was for the Barkhane force.
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www.opex360.com

Le drone MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 de l'armée de l'Air a franchi une étape vers sa pleine capacité opérationnelle - Zone Militaire

En 2020, l'armée de l'Air & de l'Espace a reçu deux systèmes de drones MQ-9 Reaper portés au Block 5 , lesquels ont directement envoyés sur la base
www.opex360.com www.opex360.com
 
“We are the most requested asset,” said the sensor operator. “It makes me super proud to be a part of this squadron. As you know, we preach flexibility in the Air Force and our aircraft is the most flexible of all.”

Having the 46th EATKS here is essential for the mission control element back in America. They need assets down range to be close to any potential threats.

“We can easily track patterns of life, behavior and watch everyone without having boots on the ground,” said an MQ-9 Reaper pilot assigned to the 46th EATKS.

The MQ-9 Reaper can also conduct combat search and rescue.

“There have been times when a fighter jet or another asset has gone down and the MQ-9 is first on the scene,” said the pilot. “That’s priceless because the reaper has the ability to fly low and slow and loiter in an area to get a good picture of what’s happening on the ground. We can establish communication with the downed pilot to let them know what’s going on and advise them when to bed down and stay hidden until help has arrived.”
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www.dvidshub.net

The 46th Expeditionary Attack Squadron takes flight with the MQ-9 Reaper

The 46th Expeditionary Attack Squadron serves a multi-faceted operation that is responsible for reconnaissance, intelligence and surveillance throughout the area of responsibility. Here they have a launch and recovery element utilizing the MQ-9 Reaper to complete their mission to meet daily...
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"Our multi-orbit demonstration for remotely piloted aircraft delivered three times the throughput of the currently deployed SATCOM service using a terminal less than half the size while maintaining constant connectivity," said Rick Lober, vice president and general manager at Hughes Defense.
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www.autoevolution.com

Hughes and SES Demo Multi-Orbit Satellite Communications Capability for Unmanned Aircraft

Satellite service providers Hughes and SES have recently demonstrated a new multi-orbit satellite communications (SATCOM) capability for remotely piloted aircraft. The demo, which was carried out for General Atomics, combined Hughes HM series software-defined modems and the Resource Management...
www.autoevolution.com www.autoevolution.com
 
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2nd French MQ-9 Blk 1 Reaper crash in Niger after a technical incident:

www.aerotime.aero

French MQ-9 Reaper drone crash lands in Niger - AeroTime

A French MQ-9 Reaper Block 1 armed drone suffered a technical incident during a surveillance mission over the so-called three-border region, at the borders of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The incident was revealed on Twitter by the French General Staff on May 5, 2022. The drone was preparing...
www.aerotime.aero www.aerotime.aero
 
www.navalnews.com

General Atomics unveils MQ-9B STOL for small Flat Tops - Naval News

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) today unveiled a new MQ-9B variant at INDO PACIFIC 2022, the international maritime exposition currently held in Sydney, Australia. The MQ-9B STOL (for short take off and landing) is designed to operate from flat top amphibious ships.
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com
 
French air force Reaper will overly Paris during the Bastide day, that time being part of the air defile (before, Reaper attended as part of the security package only, overflying the capital to monitor the event with their sensors (some of their captured footage being shared with the public media).

No Plan B are however expected.

www.francetvinfo.fr

Défilé du 14-Juillet : pour la première fois, un drone présent lors de la parade aérienne

Au défilé du 14-Juillet, lors de la parade aérienne, un drone survolera pour la première fois les Champs-Élysées. L'appareil est américain, et est utilisé par l'armée française pour traquer les djihadistes au Sahel.
www.francetvinfo.fr www.francetvinfo.fr
 
SeaGuardian for Greece:

A Greek parliamentary arms committee has approved the purchase of three MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the US, Defence Review reported.

The General Atomics drones are expected to cost around $400 million, including two ground control stations, spare parts, and related equipment.

Greece is acquiring the drones to beef up its maritime surveillance, reconnaissance, and target identification capabilities amid rising tensions with Turkey.
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www.thedefensepost.com

Greek Parliament Approves $400M MQ-9B SeaGuardian Drone Purchase

A Greek parliamentary arms committee has approved the purchase of three MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned aerial vehicles from the US.
www.thedefensepost.com www.thedefensepost.com
 
Good news for Greece, I wonder why they have not bought more SkyGuardians if they are concerned about Turkey. Unless they will at some point in the future.
 
www.dvidshub.net

The MQ-9A Reaper returns to MCAS Yuma from MCAS Miramar

An MQ-9A Reaper with Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 (VMU-1), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, sits inside of a hangar at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Arizona, Sept. 28, 2022. This MQ-9A was deployed to MCAS Miramar, California to demonstrate the ability for 3rd MAW to self-deploy...
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Ukraine conflict: General Atomics ‘committed' to providing MQ-9 UAVs to Ukraine

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) is committed to providing its MQ-9 family of medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to...
www.janes.com
03 NOVEMBER 2022
Ukraine conflict: General Atomics ‘committed' to providing MQ-9 UAVs to Ukraine

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) is committed to providing its MQ-9 family of medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Ukraine, a company spokesperson told Janes on 2 November.

With the US government having declared its intent to supply Ukraine with “heavy attack drones” from GA-ASI, the company has said that it intends to offer its MQ-9 family to the country as part of a wider raft of support for Eastern Europe that builds on the recent MQ-9A Reaper leasing agreement with Poland.

“Poland is in a high state of readiness due to the war in Ukraine, so operational security issues prevent us from discussing numbers of aircraft and many other specifics of this arrangement. We don't want to undermine the tremendous advantages offered by the MQ-9 family of aircraft by releasing too much information publicly. General Atomics remains committed to supporting the defence of allies and partners in Eastern Europe, to include someday also providing these critical capabilities to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the spokesperson said.

While previous reports have referred to a potential transfer of MQ-1C Gray Eagles armed with AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, the MQ-9 family comprises the MQ-9A Reaper and the MQ-9B SkyGuardian UAVs (although its lineage stretches back to the MQ-1 Predator that was developed into the Gray Eagle).
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www.ga-asi.com

GA-ASI Flies First M2DO MQ-9A Aircraft

On Nov. 10, 2022, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) flew the first production MQ-9A Multi-Domain Operations (M2DO)-ready variant of the U.S. Air Force MQ-9A Reaper.
www.ga-asi.com
SAN DIEGO – 05 January 2023 – On Nov. 10, 2022, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) flew the first production MQ-9A Multi-Domain Operations (M2DO)-ready variant of the U.S. Air Force MQ-9A Reaper. This upgraded version of the MQ-9A Block 5 remotely piloted aircraft, also known as a the “-25,” includes key features that will enable future integration and fielding of Open Mission Systems (OMS) as well as new sensors that will further expand the MQ-9A Reaper’s strategic reconnaissance capabilities.

Features of the new “-25” include improved power distribution and redundancy, GPS improvements, radar altimeters, nose wheel steering, and angle of attack (AoA) sensor system improvements.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps will both receive these improved MQ-9A Block 5 “-25” M2DO-ready aircraft under current contracts; however, the total number of aircraft receiving these improvements has not been released.
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Since when major incident involving a particular platform are of no interest in a platform dedicated thread?
 
www.dvidshub.net

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Enhancing U.S. Navy, NATO Capabilities

MEDITERRANEAN SEA – An MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated by the 89th Attack Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD, conducted Operation Jackpot Hooligan III during Operation Neptune Strike 23.1, February 23, 2023. During the event, the UAV integrated with air and naval forces to...
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MEDITERRANEAN SEA – An MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated by the 89th Attack Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD, conducted Operation Jackpot Hooligan III during Operation Neptune Strike 23.1, February 23, 2023. During the event, the UAV integrated with air and naval forces to execute a simulated long-range missile strike on a simulated adversarial ship.

NATO Air Command, comprised of airmen from France and Great Britain, located the ship in the southern Ionian Sea using long-range synthetic-aperture radar. The team used the information to create a realistic combat scenario and provided the information to the MQ-9.

The MQ-9 passed the target ship’s coordinates to an E-2D Hawkeye, attached to Carrier Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 121, who then passed the information to a strike force comprised of F/A-18s, attached to CVW-7, and Spanish AV-8B Harriers.

The E-2D successfully vectored the strike force to an area safe from simulated enemy air defenses. The strike force then began its’ attack utilizing the intelligence provided by the UAV.

Throughout the attack run, the MQ-9 maintained positive identification of the enemy ship and conducted scans around it to ensure the strike force’s weapons would only target the chosen vessel, eliminating collateral damage to civilian ships in the area.

The strike force launched the simulated munitions and maneuvered to remain outside the enemy’s simulated air defenses, effectively denying the enemy a chance to target friendly aircraft.

After the strike, the UAV employed its powerful full-motion video camera to complete a post-attack assessment of the strike, relayed the data to Strike Force NATO, and passed vital information to countries across the alliance via radio, chat, and Link-16.
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