The following information was issued by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on December 12, 2017. To complement this release, a quote from GA-ASI is offered below. For further information, comments, or photos about GA-ASI's MQ-9 Reaper, please contact ASI-MediaRelations@ga-asi.com.
"General Atomics is a proud supporter of the Royal Air Force," said Linden Blue, CEO of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI). "For the past 10 years, the UK MQ-9 Reaper fleet has operated over 100,000 flight hours, providing persistent, armed surveillance of the battlefield that assists military leaders in making informed operational decisions. GA-ASI looks forward to delivering the latest MQ-9 version to the RAF in the form of the new MQ-9B PROTECTOR."
RAF Announcement:
The RAF Reaper Force has reached two significant milestones. The fleet of remotely piloted aircraft systems has now been serving on coalition combat operations for 10 years during which time it has flown 100,000 hours.
The milestone of 100,000 hours of flying supporting Coalition combat operations was reached on 4 Dec 17 and equates to over 11 years airborne or travelling around the world 550 times.
The ISTAR Force Commander, Air Commodore Dean Andrew, said:
"The RAF Reaper Force has now been operational for 10 years, during which it has amassed 100,000 hours of crucial support to UK and coalition combat operations in a variety of roles. The ability of Reaper to discretely observe and monitor enemy activity for lengthy periods of time provides commanders with a hitherto unheralded view of the battlespace."