France has received an additional two General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and deployed them to Africa, a French military source told IHS Jane’s .
The UAVs arrived at Base Aérienne 101 in Niamey, Niger, at the end of 2016 where the Escadron de Drone 1/33 Belfort has been operating three other MQ-9s since January 2015 in support of the country’s Operation ‘Barkhane’ in the Sahel region.
It will take a few weeks before the two new Reapers will be declared fully operational as they will have to be reassembled, and tested on the ground and in flight.
