Though no official comment has been made, sources informed Janes and Aviation Week that the RAF’s MQ-9A fleet was withdrawn on Sept. 30, as the MQ-9B Protector RG1 readies for operational deployment.

Based entirely overseas for their entire service career, the Royal Air Force’s fleet of MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been one of the most widely used tools during the UK’s operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and the wider Middle East. More than 150,000 hours were flown by RAF Reapers during these operations, with live airstrikes continuing alongside their intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) mission through to this year.

We reported in September as the RAF announced it was preparing to deploy its new MQ-9B Protector RG1 – a development of the Re

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