DUBAI, UAE—General Atomics aims to close a sale of anti-missile pods for its MQ-9 drones to a U.S. military customer next year, a company leader said. The recent year has been rough on the surveillance drone: it’s been shot down by Houthi forces and harassed and crashed into by Russian pilots. But the recent downing might have been prevented if the drone had been carrying the Self-Protection Pod made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., or GA-ASI, said company president Dave Alexander.
To date, no U.S. MQ-9s carry the pod. In 2021, the U.S. Air Force—the Reaper’s primary American operator—said it would curtail its planned purchases of the 2000s-era drone, saying it wouldn’t survive a conflict with Russia or China. Alexander said the Air Force hasn’t needed to equip MQ-9s to defend themselves because the U.S. has always controlled the airspace it was operating in.
Alexander said the Air Force hasn’t needed to equip MQ-9s to defend themselves because the U.S. has always controlled the airspace it was operating in.
Shortly after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, the Pentagon started flying MQ-9s over the Gaza Strip to help Israel free hostages from Hamas. The Air Force announced earlier this year that it would buy three MQ-9B SkyGuardians, a newer version of the drone, for its Special Operations Command.
At the Dubai Air Show, the company is continuing talks over a deal to sell the Emirates 18 MQ-9Bs—a deal that was approved by the U.S. government in 2020, but became entangled in the controversial proposal to sell 50 F-35s and other weapons to the Gulf nation. GA-ASI has been working to decouple the MQ-9 and F-35 deals.
GA-ASI announced this week that it will work with major Emirati defense conglomerate EDGE Group to integrate weapons onto the MQ-9B. The UAE’s proposed purchases of F-35s and MQ-9s were never officially coupled, so either one could proceed without the other.
