Belgium to get MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones.

The US State Department has given the green light for Belgium to buy MQ-9B Sky Guardian drones from General Atomics, a deal that could be worth about $600 million.

SkyGuardian MQ-9B, dubbed ‘Protector’ (Picture source: UK Ministry of Defence)

The deal would include four MQ-9B drones, two ground stations, five AN/DAS-4 multispectral targeting systems, 15 embedded GPS/inertial navigation systems, five AN/APY-8 Lynx synthetic aperture radars, and five detect-and-avoid systems. It also includes spares, testing and training equipment necessary to support a five-year period of operations, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release.

“Belgium intends to use these defense articles and services to provide for the defense of its deployed troops, regional security, domestic security, and interoperability with the U.S./NATO partners,” DSCA said.

The MQ-9 is used by the U.S. Air Force and Department of Homeland Security, NASA, and the air forces of France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. In addition to Belgium and the Netherlands, Australia and India have plans to acquire variants of the drone.