MQ-9B SkyGuardian Delivered to Florennes – Belgium Starts Reassembly, GCS Pairing and Functional Flights Before September Reveal
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colton Brownlee
Belgium’s lead MQ-9B SkyGuardian arrived at Florennes Air Base on 18 August, flown from the United States inside a Belgian A400M. Defence officials say the airframe passed its acceptance test on 22 July before the ferry flight. The Air Component will unveil the system publicly on 23 September, and 2 Squadron will assume responsibility for the new remotely piloted capability.
The Ministry of Defence set a short, structured integration window at Florennes. Technicians will reassemble the air vehicle and ground elements, connect mission systems, validate datalinks and run power-on power checks. Officials expect the work to take up to four weeks. After that, limited functional flights will begin to verify aircraft systems sensors and the control station.
Belgium purchased four MQ-9B air vehicles and two certifiable ground control stations under a 2020 Foreign Military Sales award. The contract encloses spares, support equipment and training, and procurement records name the US contracting office that executed the sale. The MoD says the fleet will perform intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance missions and will operate under a certification regime permitting flights in civil airspace once national authorities clear them.
Delivery on 18 August and short integration at Florennes
The delivery sequence favoured logistics and airworthiness over ceremony. After the 22 July 2025 acceptance test, the Belgian A400M moved the boxed airframe, wings and support kits straight to Florennes. Photos released on official defence channels show the loads coming off he transport and match the Ministry of Defence timeline.
Technicians will mount major assemblies, connect flight controls install and verify payloads and pair the aircraft with the certified ground control station before any local sorties. Engineers will run power-on checks and validate datalinks and SATCOM, then sign off limited functional flights to exercise sensors and control station interfaces.
The Air Component assigned the type to 2 Squadron at Florennes. A formal roll-out on 23 September 2025 will present the aircraft and the newly finished infrastructure to national authorities and partners. The opening period remains test-oriented, with short local flights to check automatic takeoff and landing on the Belgian network. Industry sources say the base adapted shelters, connectivity nodes and maintenance bays to meet the MQ-9B’s specific support requirements.
Key dates:
- 22 July 2025 – acceptance test complete in the US.
- 18 August 2025 – arrival at Florennes by Belgian A400M.
- Late August to mid-September 2025: Reassembly and installation at Florennes.
- 23 September 2025 – public unveiling by 2 Squadron at Florennes.
Belgian crews complete first phase in US; next phase at RAF Waddington
Belgian personnel gained hands-on experience before the lead airframe reached Belgian soil. An initial cadre of remote pilots, sensor operators and mission intelligence coordinators completed the first phase of instruction in June. The syllabus covered ground control station operation, mission intelligence workflows and emergency procedures. Crews then took live control of an MQ-9B in California and flew nine-hour supervised sorties to test endurance and crew rotation. The manufacturer logged final Belgian aircrew milestones in July.
Tactical instruction now moves to the International Training Centre at RAF Waddington. The UK opened the Protector training establishment in early July and set it up to support allied MQ-9B users, not only the RAF. The facility houses simulators, certifiable ground control stations and academic classrooms inside the Oxspring Building. In parallel, the RAF put its Protector RG1 into service and obtained a Military Type Certificate this spring, which confirms the MQ-9B lineage meets European regulatory standards.
Keeping Belgian crews in the UK avoids repeated long US travel cycles and preserves a European training rhythm. It also gives access to cross-fleet tactics and procedures the RAF is refining while it expands Protector flying from Lincolnshire.
What Belgium bought and how the MQ-9B will operate in civil airspace
Belgium’s 2020 Foreign Military Sales award covered four MQ-9B air vehicles, two certifiable ground control stations and associated support. The US award notice names the contracting authority and sets a cost ceiling, and it pins the industrial workshare at Poway, California. The MoD framed the kit as an unarmed, long-endurance ISR asset for NATO tasking and national support missions under Belgian control. Civil-airspace integration remains central to the MQ-9B baseline; detect-and-avoid sensors and hardened command-and-control links underpin approvals to operate outside segregated airspace once regulators issue clearances.
The ground segment features as much resilience as the air vehicle. Two certified control stations provide redundancy and let the Air Component split training from operations when needed. The package aligns with infrastructure at RAF Waddington where the same class of control stations and simulators are in use. Defence officials say a small planning cell at Florennes has begun to scale into a full mission team with intelligence fusion, maintenance, and safety oversight embedded on base.
The arrival changes the Air Component’s ISR posture. Persistent medium-altitude coverage bridges manned patrols and space products. Endurance in the 30-40 hour class, modern EO/IR and radar payloads, and SATCOM reach let crews surveil maritime approaches, borders, and assigned areas under NATO and national tasking. Choosing a certifiable platform allows sorties to be slotted into normal European traffic patterns when regulators grant permissions, rather than rely on temporary segregation for each mission.
GA-ASI buys Achates assets – what it could mean for MQ-9B engines and efficiency
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems said on 19 August it bought key assets from Achates Power, the opposed-piston specialist. President David Alexander framed the move as a push to cut emissions, raise fuel efficiency and increase power density for airborne platforms. The deal strengthens internal propulsion expertise and could influence future engine, hybridization, or auxiliary power solutions that touch the MQ-9B portfolio.
The RAF brought Protector into service in June, then opened its training centre in July. That creates a stable pipeline for allied operators who need airspace-ready procedures, certifiable ground equipment, and instructors with fresh hours on the type. Belgium ties into that structure immediately through the Waddington training block. Our analysis shows Belgium will shorten its road to initial operational capability because doctrine, certification data, and training infrastructure no longer sit on a single-nation footing.
Program officials in Brussels point out that the MQ-9B contract signed in August 2020 set the foundation for this month’s delivery. The linkage between the US award, manufacturer testing, and European training ensures a cleaner handover between phases, not an isolated equipment drop. The Air Component still faces hard work on procedures, safety cases, and data exploitation on home soil. Yet the setup-airframe on base, crews trained, training centre open, and certification precedent established – puts the country on schedule for an orderly fielding cycle into 2026.
REFERENCE SOURCES
- https://www.ga-asi.com/belgian-aircrew-completes-mq-9b-training
- https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/belgiums-first-mq-9b-skyguardian-arrives-at-florennes-base/164235.article
- https://x.com/BeAirForce/status/1958091647633252761
- https://www.janes.com/osint-insights/defence-news/air/belgium-receives-first-mq-9b-skyguardian-rpas
- https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/contract/article/2313931/
- https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/protector-training-centre-opens-at-raf-waddington/
- https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/protector-enters-service-with-royal-air-force/
- https://www.ga-asi.com/ga-asi-acquires-assets-of-achates-power-inc
