Reaper Offered To Spain

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has teamed up with a Spanish firm to offer its multimission MQ-9 Reaper to Spain, which has a requirement for a new surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

The union between GA-ASI and SENER, a Spanish technology company, comes just weeks after the Obama administration announced a new policy on the export of these types of remotely piloted aircraft. The MQ-9 is marketed abroad as the Predator B.

"GA-ASI is fully committed to working with Spanish industry as we believe this program's success requires local industry partnerships that provide collaborative innovation in enhancing the capabilities of Predator B for the Spanish Government," GA-ASI Aircraft Systems President Frank Pace said in a March 2 press statement.

The offer to Spain comes after the State Department approved the sale of MQ-9s to the Netherlands and an announcement by Australia that some of its airmen are in the United States learning to fly the Reaper.

The United Kingdom, France and Italy have each stood up Reaper squadrons and Germany is interest in acquiring a similar capability through the foreign military sales process.

In the press statement, SENER Vice President Andrés Sendagorta said the company is pleased to partner with the GA-ASI on "this challenging project" to supply the Reaper to the Spanish Ministry of Defense.