France retires Reaper Block 1 for Block 5 Extended-Range UAS

France retired its MQ-A Reaper Block 1 UAS (pictured) in favour of the MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 ER UAS on 21 January. (French Air and Space Force)

France has retired its General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper Block I unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in favour of the MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 Extended-Range (ER) UAS.

The French Air and Space Force (l'Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace: AAE) announced the transition on 21 January, noting the conclusion of 11 years of Reaper Block 1 operations at Cognac-Chateaubernard Air Base.

“Now it's time for the Reaper Block 5 in its extended range version, a new step to go even further for longer,” the AAE said on its official X (formerly Twitter) account.

France had six Reaper Block 1 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that it is now replacing with 12 Reaper Block 5 ER UAVs, the first of which were delivered in 2020. The Block 5 ER builds on the Block 1 in that it features field-retrofittable capabilities, such as wingborne fuel pods and reinforced landing gear. It also features winglets and a four-bladed pusher-propeller in place of the standard three-bladed unit. These combine to give the Block 5 ER a 30 hour endurance (compared with 24 hours for the Block 1) and a range of 2,592 km (compared with 1,850 km).

While the earlier Block 1 UAVs had been unarmed and used exclusively for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, the Block 5 ER UAVs are armed with GBU-12/49 Paveway precision-guided bombs and AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, and are equipped with a Foreign Military Sales (FMS)-acquired pod for electronic intelligence gathering.