The Italian government has received approval from the U.S. Department of State to acquire six MQ-9 Block 5 unmanned aerial system from General Atomics.
The MQ-9A remotely piloted aircraft can operate over 27 hours at speeds of 240 KTAS with 3,850 pounds of payload capacity.
According to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification released on Thursday, the proposed Foreign Military Sales deal will see the European nation receive the six Reapers and defense equipment, including:
- three MQ-9 mobile ground control stations,
- 12 AN/DAS-4 multi-spectral target systems,
- nine LYNX AN/APY-8 Block 20A synthetic aperture radars with maritime wide area surveillance capability, and
- one embedded GPS inertial navigation system.
The $738 million deal also covers the delivery of non-major defense equipment, including Reaper/Predator engines, ruggedized aircraft maintenance test stations, and U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services.
DSCA has sent certification to Congress notifying the legislative branch of the sale.
The six new Reapers will be added to Italy’s inventory of MQ-9 aircraft. In 2021, General Atomics and Italy collaborated on improving the MQ-9 fleet, integrating the Block 5 configuration and updating ground terminals to optimize them for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.