Image source: topwar.ru
Poland has received the American MQ-9A Reaper attack and reconnaissance drones. This was announced by the country's Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
The United States has supplied Poland with an unnamed number of MQ-9A Reaper UAVs, the drones will enter service with the Polish Air Force and will be used for reconnaissance, including at the borders of Ukraine and Belarus. Drones have not been purchased by Warsaw, the United States has leased them, for what time it is unknown.
- said the Polish Minister of Defense.
The fact that Poland intends to lease American MQ-9A Reaper UAVs was reported back in October last year. According to the same Blaszczak, Warsaw has agreed to lease one or more American MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial systems to expand the country's intelligence capabilities. In the future, Warsaw intends to purchase similar drones.
The MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance and strike drone was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems based on the RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle. The first flight of the new drone took place on February 2, 2001. The wingspan of the MQ-9 Reaper is 20 m, the length is 11 m, the maximum take-off weight is 4.76 tons, the maximum speed is about 400 km/ h, the engine power of the Honeywell TP331–10 is about 900 hp. The range is about 5 thousand km, the practical ceiling is 14.4 km. It has six suspension points. The maximum duration of the flight is 27 hours.
