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.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.