MQ-9 REAPER Missions Expanded

The US Air Force, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and L3Harris Technologies have collaborated to further expand the mission capabilities of the US Air Force’s versatile MQ-9 REAPER^® Remotely Piloted Aircraft. For the first time, crews from the Air Force’s 26^th Weapons Squadron (WPS) flew an MQ-9 equipped with the REAPER Defence Electronic Support System (RDESS). The flights were conducted in parallel with the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) demonstrations recently in Europe.

RDESS is a broad spectrum, passive Electronic Support Measure payload designed to collect and geo-locate signals of interest from standoff ranges. With it, the Reaper becomes an even more versatile surveillance aircraft given its ability to conduct electronic sensing well enough to provide high quality intelligence, but also keep safely away in friendly or international airspace. The flights were accomplished via remote split operations that allowed the 26th WPS to both fly the aircraft and control the RDESS payload from within the US while the MQ-9 flew in Europe. Additionally, the aircraft flew with a high-capacity, solid-state digital recorder to collect Multi-Spectral Targeting pod data that will be used to further Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning development.

Jack Richardson