General Atomics‘ MQ-9Â Reaper unmanned aircraft system has reached a milestone of 100,000 flight hours in ten years of use in the U.K. air forces’ coalition operations.
The UAS completed the hours equivalent to 11 years of airborne flight on Dec. 4, the company said Tuesday.
“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,” said Linden Blue, CEO at General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business.
Air Commodore Dean Andrew, commander of the U.K.’s information, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance force, stated that the UAS has been used for multiple roles in its 10 years of supporting U.K. coalition combat operations.
The Reaper is a medium altitude long endurance UAS designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.