General Atomics Shows MQ-9B Sky Guardian with Emirates-made Weapons at IDEX 2023

General Atomics showed an image of MQ-9B Sky Guardian drone mounted with weapons made by an Emirati firm at IDEX 2023 sparking rumors that a deal for the U.A.E. to buy the MQ-9Bs could have been revived.

The MQ-9B Sky Guardian purchase was part of a deal between Washington and Abu Dhabi that included F-35 jets and advanced missiles. However, the deal has been stalled since 2021 December when the U.A.E. pulled off from talks following disagreements over trade terms.

The image showed the Sky Guardian drone fitted with Halcon's Thunder P-31, Thunder P-32 and Desert Sting systems. Halcon is a subsidiary of the U.A.E’s defense holding company, EDGE.

Defensemirror.com earlier reported that talks to buy the F-35s, MQ-9Bs and weapons could be revived as some of the conditions that had led to the discussions stalling have since been eased.

The UAE was approved to buy MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones in 2020. However, in 2021, a letter of acceptance for the program was reportedly withdrawn after the Biden administration put the brakes on the sale of these drones and F-35s to the country.

Halcon weapons are likely not been tested on the aircraft yet.

The company-made Thunder system provides guided delivery for standard Mk81 (P-31) and Mk82 (P-32) aerial munitions. This guided bomb kit combines inertial and satellite navigation to guide a weapon to programmed co-ordinates and can also use an optional semi-active laser seeker for increased precision.

With a range of less than 20km, the P-31 Thunder has a gross weight of 140kg, 110kg of which is the warhead. The heavier P-32 Thunder features a larger 209kg warhead.

Desert Sting is a family of air-released glide weapons that can be deployed on crewed aircraft and UAVs.