5 December 2019: Following government's announcement, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) will be providing Armed Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to the Australian Defence Force (ADF). As per the announcement made in November 2018, the ADF is expecting first delivery in early 2020s.
"We have worked closely with the ADF to determine the right RPAS to meet their needs," said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI. "MQ-9B will provide the all-weather, multi-mission support, and interoperability that the ADF requires. We look forward to working closely with our Australian industry partners to provide a highly capable RPAS to the ADF, while creating high-tech jobs in Australia."
Why MQ-9B?
MQ-9B is part of GA-ASI's Predator series of RPAS, which is the world's most trusted and capable armed Medium-altitude, Long-endurance (MALE) RPAS
It hails from a family of aircraft that has flown more than six million flight hours.
It is the result of a five-year, company funded program to deliver an unmanned aircraft system to meet the stringent airworthiness type-certification requirements of NATO and civil aviation authorities throughout the world.
It is provisioned for the GA-ASI-developed Detect and Avoid (DAA) system, which consists of air-to-air radar, Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II), and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)
It is built for all-weather performance with lightning protection, damage tolerance, and de-icing system.
The ADF joins other top-tier military forces in choosing GA-ASI RPAS for its Project Air 7003