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Grim Reaper MQ-9
The United States announced Tuesday that it agreed to sell four armed MQ-9 Reaper drones to Taiwan in a $ 600 million deal to strengthen the island’s defense capabilities in the face of mounting Chinese threats.
The US State Department said in a statement that this agreement, which will inevitably enrage Beijing, is part of “Taiwan’s continued efforts to modernize its armed forces and maintain credible defense capabilities” and improve political stability and balance. military in East Asia.
It is a drone that was named Predator B produced by the American General Atomics Corporation. It is designed on the basis of the MQ-1 Predator but is much larger to also be used as a combat rocket launcher. It is used in the United States Air Force and the United Kingdom Air Force to attack sites in Afghanistan.
Notably, the General Atomics Company in 2000 developed its MQ-1 Predator drone to become larger and more capable of carrying missiles and using them in the war in Afghanistan. It first flew on February 2, 2001 and is powered by a 900 hp (670 kW) turbo engine.
The United States launched the first squadron of this Reaper (42 Attack Squadron) at Cricket Air Force Base in Nevada in 2006. The United States Air Force has 28 such aircraft (in 2011), and it is expected that increase their number to about 90 aircraft over the next few years. The United States Air Force has about 200 Predator drones.
The aircraft weighs about 5 tons and can carry 7 and 1 ton guided missiles and bombs, and operates over a range of 3000 km. The price of the plane is between 5 and 11 million dollars.
It is believed to have been used in the attack on the Baghdad International Airport in 2020, the operation known as Blue Ray, in which the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force was assassinated, and former MP Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was assassinated. of the Popular Mobilization Authority.
