State Secretary Van der Maat conducts Reaper flight over American desert
Military personnel know the importance of reliable intelligence better than anyone. It can make all the difference in a war, also to a coalition. That is reason enough for the Netherlands Ministry of Defence to purchase a total of 8 MQ-9 Reapers. State Secretary for Defence Christophe van der Maat is in the United States to discuss cooperation in relation to systems and equipment with government officials and manufacturers. The day before yesterday, he monitored an American Reaper flight over the desert in the vicinity of San Diego.
At manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) in Poway, the state secretary, whose responsibilities include the purchase of systems and equipment, was updated on the latest technological capabilities of the unmanned aircraft.
Information sponge
Van der Maat also piloted an MQ-9 in a simulator. He said that it was impressive to learn about what the Reaper can do. The unmanned aircraft’s advanced sensor capabilities make it possible to collect high-quality information whether over land or sea. The MQ-9 Reaper is an excellent example of interoperability in that the system can be used throughout the Netherlands armed forces for all constitutional tasks.
Over 500 hours
The first of the Dutch Reapers took to the skies in April 2022. Over 500 flight hours have been logged since then (flight hours as at the end of August). So far, flights have only been conducted in the Caribbean. Operated from Curaçao, the Reapers are completing the test and evaluation phase. The unmanned aircraft may be transferred to their new home base in Leeuwarden, where they will constitute 306 MQ-9 Reaper Squadron, before the end of this year.
All in all, the Netherlands is starting to count again in the military world, because the Reaper gives the defence organisation capabilities that are highly prized within NATO.
Production process
The main purpose of Van der Maat’s visit was to learn as much as possible about the Reaper, which is also referred to as a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS). He also looked in depth at the technological developments that make the aircraft even better. At the factory, Van der Maat gained an impression of the production process of parts for the Reaper and other systems.
Industrial cooperation
The state secretary also spoke with GA-ASI about future cooperation between the industrial sectors of the Netherlands and the United States. In this connection, the state secretary observed that while there is already cooperation with the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Fokker and Thales, for example, it is important to jointly consider opportunities in the area of innovation with start-ups and other parties. Dutch and American companies can help each other by sharing knowledge about the local market, investing together and testing products.
GA-ASI has developed a special programme known as Blue Magic for this purpose. It is explicitly looking at the Netherlands in this context. Emerging companies can join forces with larger organisations to develop new technologies, such as laser technology, robotics, quantum technology and artificial intelligence (AI).