General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Norwegian Kongsberg Gruppen have completed a System Requirements Review and a Preliminary Design Review for the integration of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) on the MQ-9B drone.
GA-ASI states that the reviews were conducted in Kongsberg, Norway, on 30 June. The integration work is a jointly funded project between the two companies.
JSM is a fifth-generation strike missile for attacks on high-priority targets. MQ-9B is a long-endurance drone that can carry out missions over land and at sea, and is manufactured in the SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian models.
"We see the value JSM brings to our MQ-9B platform. This integration work demonstrates how industry can effectively collaborate to integrate new capabilities and rapidly make them available to our armed forces," says Niki Johnson, Vice President of International Strategic Development at GA-ASI.
"Having JSM integrated on an unmanned aerial platform, MQ-9B, enables a strike mission capability that can be used together with or independently of manned aircraft. This is an operational capability for which we are seeing growing interest within the defence sector," says Jens Gjestvang, Senior Vice President of Missiles and Aerostructures at Kongsberg.
MQ-9B is used by the British Royal Air Force, the Belgian Armed Forces, and the Japan Coast Guard. The drone has also been selected by Canada, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Qatar, Taiwan, India, and the US Air Force in support of its Special Operations Command. Kongsberg's JSM has, as NDS previously reported, so far been selected by six countries, including Norway.