The Polish Ministry of Defense just released new photos showing one of the MQ-9 drones of the 52nd Expeditionary Operations Group Detachment 2, the unit operating the MQ-9 Reaper in Europe, flying over Lask Air Base, Poland, with the new L3 SIGINT pod.
The Reaper with registration N428HK was featured in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Miroslawiec Air Base, Poland on March 1st, 2019.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. and L3 Technologies, Inc. announced the development and successful flight test of a full-band Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) ISR capability for use on a Predator B Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) in June 2019.
Jointly funded by GA-ASI and L3, this new podded solution was developed in eight months and successfully flight tested in May 2019 on a GA-ASI MQ-9 operating from GA test facilities in Yuma, Arizona.
“The successful collaboration between L3 and GA-ASI provides a new dimension for ISR employment of MQ-9 aircraft and provides expanded options for warfighters in the ISR domain,” said Jeff Miller, L3’s Senior Vice President and President of its ISR Systems business segment. “L3 is excited to provide its family-of-systems (FOS) SIGINT payload into the unmanned air vehicle arena in cooperation with GA-ASI and looks forward to providing increased capabilities for GA-ASI’s current and future MQ-9 weapon systems customers.”
“We are excited to work with L3 Technologies to develop this capability for the MQ-9. Generating Electronic Order of Battle (EOB) is a key capability of strategic importance to the U.S. and its allies,” said Linden Blue, CEO of GA-ASI. “Integrating L3’s world-class SIGINT system further enhances the MQ-9’s utility in the ISR arena.”
Sources: Twitter; Press Release