Australia scraps procurement of MQ-9B SkyGuardian UCAVs

 

CGI of proposed MQ-9B SkyGuardian UCAV for RAAF. Photo c/o ADBR.

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) on 01 April 2022 has confirmed that it has scrapped plans to procure more than a dozen MQ-9B SkyGuardian Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

The project, which is undertaken as part of the DOD’s Project AIR 7003, was suppose to provide the RAAF with combat-capable UAVs that would improve Australia’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), electronic warfare (EW), and precision strike capabilities across land and maritime environments.

The cancellation comes as a surprise for General Atomics, the main contractor of the project, as well as Team SkyGuardian Australia consortium which is made up of Australian companies involved in the project.

It was believed that the funds for the project will be re-prioritized to meet the growing costs of the DOD’s Cybersecurity projects through its REDSPICE program.

While funding issues was said to be the main reason for the cancellation of the A$1.3 billion project, no confirmation has been made by both the DOD and General Atomics, the main contractor of the project.

The MQ-9B was selected in 2018, winning a competition against several other offers by other companies, with the MQ-9B SkyGuardian closely similar to the UK Royal Air Force’s version, which in turn was a development from the MQ-9A Reaper used by the US Armed Forces.

[1] Janes

[2] Australia Defence Magazine

[3] ADBR