The U.S. State Department first
approved the Netherlands for a potential MQ-9 sale in 2015, when it valued the
order at about $339 million for four air vehicles, six Honeywell TPE331-10T
turboprop engines, ground stations, Lynx radars, and a variety of other
subsystems and spares. The deal is for the unarmed configuration of the Reaper.
Later, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems was awarded a $123 million contract
for four MQ-9 Reaper drones for the Netherlands, the U.S. Department of Defence
said in a release. The work was
expected to be completed in December 2020.
The RNLAF Reapers will be assigned
to 306 Squadron based at Leeuwarden Air Base in the northern Friesland province.
The squadron was established in 1953 as a photo-reconnaissance unit, and it was
deactivated in 2010 but reactivated in 2018.
