MQ-9 to get sonobuoy capability

The MQ-9 will gain a sonobuoy capability next year, General Atomics announced at the Royal Navy’s maritime awareness conference on Sept. 24.

Graphic: General Atomics

The sonobuoys will be stored in a pod, that will take 12 hours to install on a MQ-9, and the Predator B will act as a communications relay to beam the data collected back to ground station via SATCOM link.
Testing will commence in early 2016, the modified aircraft will fly over sonobuoy emulators on land to test its relay capabilities.

Source: MQ-9 to get sonobuoy capability