Netherlands flies armed MQ-9A for first time

A Royal Netherlands Air Force MQ-9A UAV seen at the country's Leeuwarden Air Base, armed with likely training Hellfire and GBU munitions, in an image released on 20 August 2026. (Netherlands MoD)

The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) flew one of its General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with munitions for the first time on 20 August 2026, the Netherlands Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

For this first flight, practice ammunition was used, with flights with live munitions to follow.

Operated by 306 Squadron from their home at Leeuwarden Air Base, the RNLAF's eight MQ-9As have been used since their arrival in April 2022 for reconnaissance flights. On 23 March 2023 the MoD submitted a so-called ‘A-letter' to the Netherlands parliament's Standing Committee on Defence entitled “Armament MQ-9, which was later approved. In it the MoD said that it had earlier been decided to cooperate with France on the MQ-9A's GBU-12 munitions, and jointly developed the software for the MQ-9 block 5 with Italy, France and Spain, which supports the use of other guided weapons. The MoD said in the letter that this co-operation would allow for armed MQ-9A “deployment with the following types of ammunition:

• GBU-12 (500 lb bomb, laser guided);

• GBU-49 LOT 5 (500 lb bomb, laser and GPS [global positioning system] guided);

• AGM-114 R2 Hellfire (air-to-ground missile, laser guided).”

What are likely training versions of an AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile and a GBU-12 Paveway II 500 lb laser-guided bomb are visible mounted on an MQ-9A in an image released with the 20 August announcement.