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Home» News»United States Approves Possible FMS Of Submarine Hunting UAVs To the UAE
IMDEX Asia 2023
For ASW missions, the SeaGuardian can carry two to four sonobuoys dispensers under its wings.
For ASW missions, the SeaGuardian can carry two to four sonobuoys dispensers under its wings. GA-ASI image.

United States Approves Possible FMS Of Submarine Hunting UAVs To the UAE

The United States' State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of up to 19 MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $2.97 billion. The package includes "ASW mission kits" meaning at least some of the aircraft will be the SeaGuardian variant of General Atomics' MQ-9B.

Xavier Vavasseur 11 Nov 2020

According to the notice published by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), The Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has requested to buy up to eighteen (18) Weapons-Ready MQ-9B, Remotely Piloted Aircraft; twenty-five (25) Raytheon Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems-D (MTS-D) EO/IR Sensors; nineteen (19) Lynx AN/APY-8 Synthetic Aperture Radars (SAR) with Ground Moving Target Indicator (GTMI); eighteen (18) RIOTM Communication Intelligence Systems; sixty-six (66) Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigations Systems (EGI) with Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Modules (SAASMs); five hundred fifteen (515) AGM-114R Hellfire Missiles… Click for the entire list of equipment.

What stands out, in our opinion, is the mention of the following equipment:

  • SeaSpray 7500 maritime radars;
  • SAGE 750 Electronic Surveillance Measures System;
  • Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) mission kits, receivers, and acoustic processors;
  • AN/SSQ-36B thermometric sonobuoys;
  • AN/SSQ-53G passive sonobuoys;
  • AN-SSQ-62F active sonobuoys;
  • ASW acoustic operator workstations;
SeaGuardian artist impression on General Atomics stand at Sea Air Space 2019

Thanks to the above systems, the MQ-9Bs will be able to conduct maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. The UAV will at least be able to detect and track submarines and share their locations with assets equipped with torpedoes, such as the single Abu Dhabi-class ASW corvette or the future Gowind type corvettes of the UAE Navy.

For the record, the United States approved another possible FMS of MQ-9B SeaGuardian to Taiwan. These would conduct maritime missions for the most part. They would come equipped with SeaVue Maritime Multi-Role Patrol Radar and would provide Taiwan with “timely Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), target acquisition, and counter-land, counter-sea, and anti-submarine strike capabilitie”.

ASW MQ-9B SeaGuardian UAV United Arab Emirates United States 2020-11-11
Tags ASW MQ-9B SeaGuardian UAV United Arab Emirates United States
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Authors

Posted by : Xavier Vavasseur
Xavier is based in Paris, France. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Xavier has been covering naval defense topics for nearly a decade.

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