US State Department has approved Foreign Military Sale of four MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 reconnaissance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and associate...
US State Department has approved Foreign Military Sale of four MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 reconnaissance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and associated equipment, parts and logistical support to Spain for an estimated cost of $243 million.
The fleet will be shared by Spanish armed forces, rather than exclusive to one service. Spain will operate the MQ-9 in unarmed configuration, and intends to use it in homeland security, peacekeeping, peace enforcement, counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism operations.
The Reaper will enhance intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability of the Spanish military in support of national, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), United Nations, and other coalition operations.
Commonality of ISR capabilities increases interoperability between U.S. and Spanish forces and provides a common interface with other MQ-9 NATO operators, including the United Kingdom, France, and Italy.
The deal have offset agreements which are undetermined and will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and contractor.
The deal also include 20 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Guidance Unit (EGI) (3 per aircraft, and 8 spares), 2 Mobile Ground Control Stations (MGCS), 5 Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems (MTS-B) (1 per aircraft, 1 spare) and 5 Synthetic Aperture Radar, Lynx AN/APY-8 (1 per aircraft, 1 spare).
Current Spanish UAV fleet include Searcher Mk II and RQ-11 Raven UAVs operated by Army, and Insitu ScanEagle operated by Navy.
