General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has been awarded a contract for $123 million for the French 3rd/4th Systems MQ-9 Block 5 program.

Work on the contract, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, will be performed in Poway, Calif., and is expected to be completed by May 2020. The program falls under a foreign military sale to France.

The MQ-9 SkyGuardian, also known as the Reaper, is a larger and more heavily armed successor to the famous MQ-1 Predator drone. It is designed primarily for attack missions but can also be used for surveillance, close air support and reconnaissance.

The Reaper has long-range endurance and carries the advanced Multi-Spectral Targeting System. It's suite includes infrared cameras, laser designators and video systems. It also has satellite uplink/downlink capabilities that allow its sensor data to be shared across networks.

The MQ-9 has a a high cruise speed, a flight ceiling up to 40,000 feet and can carry a larger sensor and weapons payload than its predecessors. They can be armed with laser-guided missiles and bombs like the Hellfire and GBU-12 Paveway, as well as GPS-guided GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions.

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General Atomics receives contract for Gray Eagle drones
Washington (UPI) Aug 23, 2018
General Atomics Aeronautical System has received an $11 million contract modification for engineering services in support of the Gray Eagle unmanned aerial system. Work on the contract, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, will be performed in Poway, Calif., with an estimated completion date of September 2019. Army fiscal 2017 and 2018 aircraft procurement, research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $11 million were obligated at the time of the award. ... read more