Poland nears acquisition of SkyGuardian drones, General Atomics says

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Poland is close to finalizing the acquisition of MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones from General Atomics, following two years of leasing the Reaper model, according to the company’s president.

Since October 2022, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has been under contract by the Polish government to fly company-owned MQ-9A Reapers on reconnaissance missions over the eastern European country.

“With the Poland mission, we’re learning new things about this portion of eastern Europe and the overall threat environment there, and these lessons are feeding into new tactics and approaches for these operations,” C. Mark Brinkley, senior director of communications with the company, told Defense News at the UMEX trade show here this week.

Polish leaders have said they want to buy the SkyGuardian variant, which has greater endurance, range and payload capability. The number of drones sough by Warsaw has not been made public.

According to GA-ASI’s chief executive, the signature of a contract is imminent, which could prove to be a substantial boost to the country’s reconnaissance capabilities as it shares a border with Ukraine.

“Negotiations for Poland to acquire the MQ-9B are very close to being finalized,” company president Dave Alexander said.

Last year, the company offered to provide two Reaper drones to Ukraine for the symbolic price tag of $1. The offer still stands but has yet to receive approval from the U.S. government.

A number of Ukrainian industry experts present at the show here told Defense News that Russia’s jamming of unmanned aircraft is a major problem on the battlefield.

General Atomics has taken note, according to Alexander. “I wouldn’t go as far as saying we are investing more than we already have, but we’re definitely paying more attention to mitigation techniques,” he said.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

阿联酋阿布扎比——据通用原子公司总裁称，波兰在租赁“死神”无人机两年后，即将完成从该公司采购MQ-9B“天空卫士”无人机的交易。

自 2022 年 10 月以来，通用原子航空系统公司一直与波兰政府签订合同，驾驶该公司拥有的 MQ-9A“死神”无人机在该东欧国家上空执行侦察任务。

“通过波兰任务，我们正在了解东欧这一地区以及那里的整体威胁环境的新情况，这些经验教训正在为这些行动提供新的战术和方法，”该公司高级通信主管 C·马克·布林克利本周在 UMEX 贸易展上告诉《防务新闻》。

波兰领导人表示，他们希望购买“天空卫士”（SkyGuardian）无人机，该机型拥有更长的续航时间、更远的航程和更大的有效载荷能力。华沙方面尚未公开其采购无人机的具体数量。

据 GA-ASI 首席执行官称，合同即将签署，这可能会极大地提升该国的侦察能力，因为该国与乌克兰接壤。

公司总裁戴夫·亚历山大表示：“波兰购买MQ-9B无人机的谈判已接近尾声。”

去年，该公司提出以象征性的1美元价格向乌克兰提供两架“死神”无人机。该提议仍然有效，但尚未获得美国政府的批准。

出席此次展会的几位乌克兰行业专家告诉《防务新闻》，俄罗斯对无人机的干扰是战场上的一个重大问题。

亚历山大表示，通用原子公司已经注意到了这一点。“我不会说我们正在加大投入，但我们肯定会更加重视缓解措施，”他说。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。