The Netherlands is completing a multi-year process of acquiring American drones. Yesterday, July 8, the portal flightglobal.com he reported that the first MQ-9A Reaper drone for the Dutch Air Force was officially rolled out at the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems plant in Poway (California).
The Netherlands has repeatedly announced its intention to buy American drones since 2003, but only in July 2018, a contract was signed for the supply of four MQ-9A Reaper drones in the Block 5 modification. For the Dutch Air Force, drones are purchased in the reconnaissance version, but if necessary, they can be armed with bombs and missiles.
Ceremonial roll-out of the first MQ-9A Reaper for the Dutch Air Force
Image source: flightglobal.com
MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 is the latest modification of the main strike drone of the US Army. The first modification of the MQ-9 Reaper (Block 1) made its first flight in 2001, and six years later it was adopted. The Block 5 modification uses a new electrical system, which, according to the developers, made the drones more reliable (in the period from April 2013 to December 2015, the US army lost 13 units of the MQ-9 Reaper Block 1 due to problems with the power supply system). The new generation is delivered to the troops with the latest software and updated intelligence modules.
The MQ-9 Reaper drone is an improved version of the RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator drone, which made its first flight in 1994. The MQ-1 and MQ-9 reconnaissance and combat UAVs are in service with the US Air Force and CIA, as well as the Air Forces of Italy, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, France, the United Kingdom and other countries. Today, the US security forces are armed with several hundred MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator vehicles. The American media has repeatedly called these drones unreliable due to many accidents.
