General Atomics has completed the first flight of an upgraded MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle that features enhanced electrical power capacity, the company said recently.
The added power gives the aircraft more room for growth and includes a backup generator to support critical flight functions, General Atomics said.
“This vastly improves the reliability of the electrical power system by providing three independent power sources,” the company said.
The upgraded MQ-9, which falls into General Atomics’ family of Predator UAVs, flew for the first time at the company’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., on May 24.
“The first flight of the MQ-9 Block 1-plus follows in the footsteps of the aircraft’s combat-proven Block 1 configuration and is an important technological achievement that will provide increased effectiveness, increased multi-mission flexibility, and even greater reliability,” Frank Pace, the president of the company’s aircraft systems group, said.