CNBC reports, “Cutting-edge technologies and geopolitics are set to feature in military deals at this year’s Dubai Air Show. And some weapons sales – or lack thereof – are major sticking points for both the U.S. and its Gulf allies, in particular the United Arab Emirates. Fighter jet fleet upgrades and new counter-UAS (unmanned aerial systems) technologies are likely to be major themes at the industry show, especially considering the rise in drone attacks around the region in recent years.” However, “many eyes will be on whether prior agreements made under the Trump administration to sell certain U.S. weapons systems to the UAE will actually come through.” The sales in questions are of the “F-35 II joint strike fighter jet and the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drone, which, if completed, would mark the first sale of the F-35 and U.S.-made armed drones to any Arab country.”
Full Story (CNBC)
Tag: MQ-9
US Air Force Demonstrates that Airmen Can Operate Same MQ-9 Sortie from Different Locations
Military reports that “during a recent exercise at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California, the Air Force tested whether airmen at multiple locations could coordinate to execute the same MQ-9 sortie.” The “result proved that numerous airmen can operate the drone during its mission, according to Lt. Col. Brian Davis, 29th Attack Squadron commander, at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.” The “service used the same exercise to test whether it could use a slimmed-down profile of personnel, fuel and equipment to conduct full-scale MQ-9 operations, Davis said. That experiment was also successful.” Davis said in an interview Monday, “I can now take my capability and move it. … At the same time, I can reach back to other locations around the world and continue to move my operation all within the same sortie.”
Full Story (Military)
USAF’s Autonomy Effort Focusing on Air-Launched Swarms
Aviation Week reports, “U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command is looking to go big with a new autonomy effort, moving from solely focusing on using MQ-9 Reapers as host to its C-130 variants. The command for the past two years has been working on its Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) effort, which would use Reapers to air-launch smaller uncrewed air vehicles (UAV) to allow one service member to operate multiple UAVs at once.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
US Air Force to Update MQ-9A Fleet With Automatic Land-And-Take-Off Capability
FlightGlobal reports that US Air Force “plans to start updating its fleet of MQ-9A Reapers with an automatic land-and-take-off capability starting in the spring of 2022.” The update “would allow aircrew to land or take off the UAV remotely using a satellite link. The MQ-9 would also use the electro-optical and infrared cameras in its targeting pod to survey a prospective runway.” Lt. Col. Nathaniel Totten, 49th Wing deputy commander at Holloman Air Force Base, said, “Previously, MQ-9s could only land and take off if there was a local crew to line-of-sight link with the aircraft. … With this new capability, an MQ-9 can theoretically land anywhere there is a runway large enough.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)