October 2024 - Part 2

October 2024 Part 2

MQ-9A Reaper (Predator B)

General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper

39 Sqn RAF Waddington (and deployed) 2019

Kinetic 1/72

Link to Website Index:

<<Link to previous month Link to Next Month >>

This kit was very much an impulse buy (from Jadlam) as it doesn't really fit with any of my modelling themes. Nevertheless, UAVs (or "drones") are very much the aircraft of the moment, with Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and NATO UAVs all buzzing around Ukraine at the moment. The General Atomics MQ-9 reaper is one of the most common and was developed from the original armed MQ-1 Predator that saw so much successful service over Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although visually similar in configuration, the MQ-9 is a significantly larger aircraft than the MQ-1, with a wingspan (20m - 65ft 7in) that is wider than an English Electric Canberra (19.5 m - 64 ft). The original MQ-9A Reaper can carry 4 Hellfire missiles, plus 2 GBU-12 laser/GPS guided bombs, which is a similar weapons load (minus Air to Air missiles) as a Eurofighter Typhoon. Better still, the Reaper carries a more effective sensor suite and can loiter at 50,000 ft, fly at up to 240 mph and remain in the air for up to 40 hours.

The RAF gained its first Reapers in 2007, initially controlled by satellite from the USAF base at Creech Nevada (where RAF pilots also flew USAF Reapers), but then moving to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. Locally based in-theatre control teams launch and recover the aircraft, handing over to the remote pilots at Waddington once airborne. Initially operated by 39 Sqn, on the move to Waddington the Reaper force was split in two, with XIII and 39 Sqn both flying 5 Reapers each. RAF Reapers can also carry the more capable MBDA Brimstone missile in place of Hellfire.

Since 2023, the RAF’s MQ-9A Reaper force has been steadily replaced by the newer MQ-9B Protector, which is certified for flight in civil airspace. In addition to its ability to fly in controlled airspace, the Protector can carry a much larger weapon load and is capable of remote take off and landing without local ground controllers.

In 2023, a maritime variant of the MQ-9, The Mojave was tested onboard HMS PRINCE OF WALES, conducting several landings and take-offs and undertaking 7 months of trials.

Link to many more RAF aircraft on my Friends and Allies pages

Building the Kinetic Reaper Kit:

This is my first Kinetic kit and my views are mixed (although it was apparently first introduced by "Skunkworks" models so is perhaps not representative). The kit is very cleanly moulded and fit was good, but spoilt by some very large sprue attachments in some difficult positions.

The 1/72 kit is mostly similar to the Kinetic 1/48 version, albeit that the smaller kit has slightly less parts (just over 41). In fact, as I opened the box, I briefly wondered if I had bought the 1/48th kit by mistake, because it is BIG ! In comparison to the much smaller RQ-1/MQ-1 kit that I built several years ago, it seems reasonably priced too.

The instructions are reasonable, but they miss out the 3 tiny wing pitots, which have holes in the wing, but only 2 of which I could actually find on the sprue. It represents an early MQ-9B, without the additional sensor package on the forward fuselage and the strengthened main undercarriage/dampers that appeared later in its RAF career. Kinetic state that colour versions of the instructions and painting guide are available online, but this doe snot seem to be the case and you will need to refer to references to know where every decal goes (or look at the instructions from the Italeri issue of this kit!)

Provided you tidy up the sprue attachment points it is a quick and easy build. It is also a determined tail-sitter, so I filled the nose with lead shotgun pellets until it would sit happily on its own (and then they all fell out again!).

Kinetic provide an impressive array of decals for most Reaper operators although sadly, all of the aircraft are a rather uninspiring overall grey !

Below: An RAF Reaper prepares to take off on a mission over the Middle East Copyright UK MOD used under OGL

Below: An RAF Reaper with additional sensor package and strengthened undercarriage

Below: A Mojave UAV lands onboard HMS PRINCE OF WALES during flying trials

Below: A new MQ-9B Protector UAV in RAF markings at RIAT 2024

Below: For comparison - the much smaller MQ-1 Predator at RIAT

Below: The relative size of the earlier MQ-1 and the MQ-9a is clear in this picture (both are 1/72 scale).

Link to Part 1 (Shannon Class Lifeboat) >>

Link to Website Index:

<<Link to previous month

Link to Next Month >>

Link to Part 1