By Jason Lee/Financial Post reporterThe U.K. and Mexico announced a deal Friday to acquire $1,971.4 million in equipment for the U..
S.-led Global Hawk and other U.N. air and maritime missions.
The deal, first reported by The Associated Press, would buy $4.4 billion in Global Hawks, including three Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, and $1 billion in UAVs for use in humanitarian missions.
“These are two of the most advanced air-to-air, air-sea and air-launched systems that have ever been used in the world,” U.KS.
Secretary of State James Jones said in a statement.
“The U-2’s will continue to be one of the world’s most advanced combat aircraft.”
The Global Hawks are the most powerful jets in the U-S.
arsenal, and they can fly at altitudes of 30,000 feet, allowing them to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Global Hawk has been used by the U, U. K., Canada and other nations for years.
The U. S. government has deployed it in Afghanistan and Somalia, and the U N. has used it in search and rescue missions.
U. N. officials have said they plan to use the jets to search for bodies of missing persons.
The $1bn deal is the biggest deal for Global Hawks in the region, with $1billion being earmarked for the program.
“This is an important addition to the U .
S. and Mexican arsenals, and a significant contribution to our efforts to meet the challenges of the 21st century,” U S. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in his statement.
Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto said in an interview with the Associated Press that the U S.-Mexico deal was “the biggest and most significant investment in the development of the UAV industry” since the 1990s.
The Global Hawk program was announced in 2010 and it was awarded the U 1A designation in 2012.
The program is being used to help support humanitarian missions in war-torn regions of the Horn of Africa and elsewhere.
