General Atomics Wins $11.4M for Dutch MQ-9A Update

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) won a contract valued $10.4 million for the Netherlands MQ-9 update.

The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) has ordered four MQ-9A Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) and the first is expected to be delivered to Leeuwarden later this year. The total Foreign Military Sales agreement also includes four mobile Ground Control Stations, along with associated support equipment.

MQ-9A Block 5 has endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS and can operate up to 50,000 feet. It has a 3,850 pound (1,746 kg) payload capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1,361 kg) 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. It is engineered to meet and exceed manned aircraft reliability standards.