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State Department Approves $1.7 Billion Deal With Australia For MQ-9B Drones

By Matthew Beinart

Monday, April 26th, 2021

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State Department Approves $1.7 Billion Deal With Australia For MQ-9B Drones

The General Atomics MQ-9B SkyGuardian unmanned aircraft system. (Photo: General Atomics)

The State Department has approved a potential $1.7 billion deal with Australia for General Atomics’ MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones and supporting equipment. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress on April 23 of the foreign military sale (FMS). Australia officially selected the MQ-9B as the winner of its Project AIR 7003 program last fall to find its future medium-altitude, long-endurance armed remotely piloted aircraft system, and is set to receive 12 systems under the FMS deal. “The proposed sale improves…

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