After consideration by the Ministry of Defence for the Netherlands, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) has been selected to provide the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) with its UAS.

GA-ASI will deliver its Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper Medium Altitude, Long-endurance (MALE) UAS to the Dutch Military.

“We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to meet the UAS requirements of the Royal Netherlands Air Force,” says Linden Blue, CEO of GA-ASI.

“We are committed to providing a NATO-interoperable solution that enhances the ISR capabilities of the Netherlands and the Alliance.”

To date, GA-ASI’s existing MQ-9 fleet has logged more than two million operational flight hours with a variety of entities including the United States Air Force, UK RAF, Italian and French Air Forces, NASA and the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Spanish Air Force is scheduled to take delivery of MQ-9 systems in 2019.

The multi-mission Predator B carries HD-video sensors (optical and IR), ground-imaging/MTI/maritime radar, and other surveillance sensors. Additionally, the aircraft has a flight endurance up to 26 hours, and its payload capacity is 386 kilograms internally, and 1,361 kilograms externally.