General Atomics awarded $19.7M for French MQ-9 Reaper support

March 25 (UPI) -- General Atomics has been awarded an $8.9 million contract to produce and integrate weapons on the French Air Force's MQ-9 Block 1 aircraft.

The foreign military sale comes under an undefinitized contract action for the production and integration of the kits for the remotely piloted aircraft, the U.S. Air Force announced Friday.

The Reaper is the ninth in the series of remotely piloted aircraft system. The first one was the MQ-1 Predator.

Crusing at a speed of around 230 mph, the Reaper has a range of 1,150 miles up to 50,000 feet in altitude with a takeoff weight of 10,500 pounds.

Work, which will be performed at its plant in Poway, Calif., is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2020.

General Atomics has been obligated $4.3 million at the time of the award, with 100 percent of funds for the work coming from foreign military sales to France, the Pentagon said.

The French first ordered two MQ-9 Reapers in 2013, replacing the Harfang drones.

Last November, the U.S. Air Force last November awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a $263.4 million contract for production of the Reaper.