Roll-out first KLu MQ-9A
On 7 July 2021, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) announced the completion of the first MQ-9A Block 5 Unmanned Combat Aerial System (UCAS) and Ground Control Station (GCS) for the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) during a roll-out ceremony of the first aircraft (serial M-001) at the company's headquarters in Poway (CA).
The MQ-9A Reaper will start acceptance test flights early 2022 at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility near Palmdale (CA). Delivery is expected soon after.
In March 2019, GA-ASI was awarded a USD 123 million contract to manufacture four MQ-9A Block 5 Reapers for the KLu. The contract had been anticipated for a while, as the US State Department approved the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) in 2015 and the Dutch Ministry of Defence officially announced the order in July 2018 at the Farnborough air show (UK).
Dutch crews started training on the Reaper at Holloman AFB (NM) in January 2019. The first Reapers are expected to be delivered to 306 Squadron at Leeuwarden air base in the first quarter of 2022.
The MQ-9A Block 5 has an endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS (Knots True Airspeed) and can operate up to 50,000 feet. It has a 3,850 pound (1,746 kilogram) payload capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1,361 kilograms) of external stores. It provides a long-endurance, persistent surveillance capability with Full-Motion Video and Synthetic Aperture Radar/Moving Target Indicator/Maritime Radar. An extremely reliable aircraft, MQ-9A Block 5 is equipped with a fault-tolerant flight control system and triple redundant avionics system architecture.
Photo by GA-ASI and Frank Crebas via Onze Luchtmacht