{"id":59357,"date":"2025-04-21T21:38:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T19:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=59357"},"modified":"2026-04-21T04:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T02:45:24","slug":"the-large-mq-9-drones-of-the-spanish-air-force-and-their-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/04\/21\/the-large-mq-9-drones-of-the-spanish-air-force-and-their-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"The large MQ-9 drones of the Spanish Air Force and their operation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The General Atomics MQ-9 Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), now called Reaper, made its first flight on February 2, 2001.<\/p>\n

SIRTAP, the unmanned aircraft developed by Spain and Colombia for military purposes<\/a><\/rel>
\nSpain will have its first unmanned aerial vehicles armed with Hellfire missiles<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

This UAV began active service in the United States Air Force (USAF) in 2007<\/strong> with seven units, and was deployed that same year to Iraq. Currently, The United States has 220 active MQ-9As in the USAF and 24 in the Air National Guard (ANG)<\/a>. The MQ-9 is a drone specifically designed for surveillance and reconnaissance missions,<\/strong> for which it is equipped with large wingspans (20 meters) and a fuselage that is 11 meters long.<\/p>\n

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The MQ-9 can also perform attack missions<\/strong>, and can be armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, R9X Hellfire Ninja missiles, GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs and GBU-38 and GBU-54 Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), AIM-9X Sidewinder Block 2 air-to-air missiles. It has a total of seven weapon mounts and accessories:<\/strong> three on each wing and one on the fuselage.<\/p>\n

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The Reaper has a top speed of 482 km\/h<\/strong> (300 mph), a cruise speed of 313 km\/h (194 mph), a flight ceiling of 15,420 meters (50,000 feet), and a range of 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles). It is powered by a 900 hp Honeywell TPE331-10 turboprop engine<\/strong> and has a maximum takeoff weight of 5,670 kg. The drone is controlled from a remote station by two operators, a pilot and copilot.<\/p>\n

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The Spanish Air Force received the components of its first MQ-9 Block 5 in December 2019<\/a>. There are currently 4 units in active service<\/strong>, designated NR.05 by the Air Force and with registrations NR.05-01, NR.05-02, NR.05-03 and NR.05-04.<\/p>\n

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These drones are assigned to the 233 Squadron of the 23rd Wing, based in Talavera La Real (Badajoz).<\/strong> The 23rd Wing also houses the F-5BM aircraft responsible for training the Air Force's fighter and attack pilots (in this photo we can see one of them next to an MQ-9, which gives us an idea of \u200b\u200bits size). <\/p>\n

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Initially, the Spanish MQ-9s were purchased for surveillance and reconnaissance missions<\/strong>, but in November 2023, the purchase of Hellfire missiles was authorized<\/a> for these UAVs, so that they can also carry out attack missions.<\/p>\n

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If you want to know more about this aircraft, yesterday the YouTube channel AiTelly<\/a> published a complete video showing the MQ-9 inside and out and explaining how it works<\/strong>, including operations at the control station and its communications with the aircraft:<\/p>\n