AFSOC to Lease MQ-9B
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. has announced that the United States Air Force Special Operations Command has entered into an agreement to acquire three MQ-9B SkyGuardian uncrewed aerial vehicles. According to the GA-ASI press release, AFSOC is the first US customer for the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, with 14 years prior experience operating the MQ-9A Reaper. AFSOC spokesperson Lt. Col. Rebecca Heyse said in a statement that the MQ-9Bs would not be used operationally, and that AFSOC expected to take delivery of the first airframe by the end of the year. International customers include Poland and Japan; Japan took delivery of the first of three MQ-9B maritime surveillance-configured SeaGuardian airframes in October of last year. Last month, GA-ASI announced that the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force will be performing trial operations with MQ-9B SeaGuardians. In February, Poland became the first European country to operate the MQ-9A, taking delivery of the first two leased airframes. These will be used temporarily until Poland receives the MQ-9Bs on order.
Prior to the contract with AFSOC, the only US operator of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian was General Atomics themselves, performing test flights from their California and North Dakota facilities. US Customs and Border Protection uses the predecessor to the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, the MQ-9A Guardian. The Guardian is related to the “Certifiable Predator B”, the first version of the Predator B that is properly certified for use in civilian airspace.
The press release states that the new MQ-9B acquisition builds on AFSOC’s new “Adaptive Airborne Enterprise” (A2E) concept, which builds on existing manned-unmanned teaming concepts that have seen use as part of the Air Force’s Loyal Wingman program. The Air Force has been developing similar manned-unmanned programs like Loyal Wingman for years under a variety of names, like Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP) and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).