The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Nov. 18 of a possible foreign military sale to Italy of two unarmed MQ-9 remotely piloted vehicles, one ground control station, and all associated equipment and support services. The total value of this potential deal is $63 million, said DSCA in a release Nov. 19. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this sale, DSCA noted. Italy already operates MQ-1 Predators, It would become the second US ally, after Britain, to acquire the Reaper. Britain has already used MQ-9s in Afghanistan. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems builds the Reaper, which the US Air Force already operates in Afghanistan and Iraq (see above). Raytheon and General Atomics supply its sensors.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.