Back to news

July 30, 2019 | International, Aerospace

RAF Retiring Reaper In 2024, Paving Way For Protector

By

LONDON—Britain is planning to retire its General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft systems in 2024 as the Royal Air Force transitions to its new Protector platform.

Although Royal Air Force (RAF) officers have not detailed when the first of the new Protector aircraft will arrive, there will be a transition as crews retrain from Reaper onto Protector, with the Reaper complementing the Protector on operations, Wing Commander Judith Graham, the RAF's Protector Program Manager, told Aerospace DAILY at the Royal International Air Tattoo earlier this month.

“Reaper is an extraordinarily valuable capability for the UK government, so we don't want there to be a capability gap,” Graham said.

The plan for avoiding a capability gap between Reaper and Protector suggests that a significant number of Protectors will have entered service by the time the Reaper is retired.

The UK currently has 10 MQ-9 Reapers that it purchased as an urgent operational requirement for operations in Afghanistan. Today, they operate over Iraq and Syria, but none are destined for use in UK airspace.

Work also is underway to select the site for a new facility at RAF Waddington, UK, from which the Protector fleet and the UK's new E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft will be operated. Graham said the facility needs “to be ready for Protector by the end of 2021,” suggesting that first Protector deliveries could take place in 2022. Britain plans to centralize its Protector operations from Waddington, resulting in the UK presence at Creech AFB, Nevada being scaled down.

Because of the Protector's ability to self-deploy and perform autonomous landing and take-off, there also is a significantly reduced need for forward-based personnel to land the aircraft at forward-operating locations, further reducing the personnel burden.

The UK currently is planning to buy 16 Protectors, a derivative of General Atomics' self-developed, certifiable SkyGuardian platform, which has been redesigned to pave the way for it to meet military airworthiness requirements. As a result, the aircraft now features an all-weather capability with an electro-expulsive de-icing system that blows the ice off the leading edges of the wings and Y-stabilizers. General Atomics also has increased the fatigue life and damage tolerance of the aircraft and produced flight-critical software certifiable to the DO-178 standard.

British Protectors will be armed with the Raytheon Paveway IV laser-guided-bomb and MBDA Brimstone air-to-ground missile. There also are plans to fit it with Leonardo's Sage Electronic Support Measures system. The aircraft will also be equipped with General Atomics' Lynx synthetic aperture radar, but there are studies to look at installing a larger radar, such as Leonardo's Seaspray surface-search radar. Work on the integration of such a radar, which could allow the Protector to support the UK's new P-8 Poseidon in the maritime patrol role, is being scoped but is not yet funded.

RAF officers are working alongside General Atomics at its San Diego, California, facility as part of a combined test team to pave the way for the platform's certification by the UK Military Aviation Authority, which the RAF hopes will allow the aircraft to fly in non-segregated airspace for training and support to national authorities. They are hoping to do this even without the immediate installation of General Atomics internally developed sense-and-avoid radar.

The RAF's Protectors will be compatible, but not immediately equipped, with the active electronically scanned array radar, but Graham said work was underway with the UK's newly renamed Strategic Command (formerly Joint Forces Command) to understand the requirement for the radar, and test and evaluation work was underway.

Officials state that the radar likely will be introduced as part of the full operational capability for the platform.

The UK also will use the General Atomics Advanced Cockpit ground control station, which uses a similar flight management system to the Beechcraft King Air 350. Under current plans, the British Protectors will be flown by a crew of three—a pilot, a sensor operator and a mission intelligence coordinator. Rather than flying the aircraft from inside transportable containers, the seven ground control stations will occupy a permanent building with room for expansion. There also will be scope to add an additional mission specialist, should a particular mission require it, officials say.

https://aviationweek.com/defense/raf-retiring-reaper-2024-paving-way-protector

On the same subject

  • Top USAF general urges support for Next-Gen fighter - Skies Mag

    March 4, 2021 | International, Aerospace

    Top USAF general urges support for Next-Gen fighter - Skies Mag

    Air Combat Command chief talks NGAD, Tacair study, and acknowledges current F-35 problems.

  • Phishing-as-a-Service "Rockstar 2FA" Targets Microsoft 365 Users with AiTM Attacks

    November 30, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security

    Phishing-as-a-Service "Rockstar 2FA" Targets Microsoft 365 Users with AiTM Attacks

    Rockstar 2FA phishing kit bypasses MFA, stealing Microsoft 365 credentials via AitM attacks and trusted platforms.

  • LOCKHEED MARTIN ANNOUNCES $100 MILLION VENTURE FUND INCREASE

    June 11, 2018 | International, Aerospace

    LOCKHEED MARTIN ANNOUNCES $100 MILLION VENTURE FUND INCREASE

    BETHESDA, Md., June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) announced the doubling of its venture capital fund to $200 million and recent investments in early-stage companies focused in the areas of autonomy and advanced manufacturing. "Our focus is on finding and investing in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that will grow our business and disrupt our industry," said Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures. "We're developing long-term strategic partnerships with companies and helping them navigate through the early stages of product development while leveraging our decades of experience working with government customers." Enabled by tax reform legislation, Lockheed Martin Ventures is focusing the additional $100 million on early-stage companies in the areas of sensor technologies, autonomy, artificial intelligence and cyber. With the fund's latest investment, Lockheed Martin expanded its relationship with nTopology, creator of ELEMENT, an emerging software technology in the high-growth additive and advanced manufacturing sectors. "Our investment in nTopology will bring strategic advantages in Lockheed Martin's computational design processes and help shorten the periods between the design and manufacturing phase," said Moran. The increase in the venture fund is part of $460 million that Lockheed Martin is investing as a direct result of tax reform savings. The tax reform legislation enables Lockheed Martin to make investments that improve its global competitiveness, including investing in transformative technologies that will bring lasting benefits to customers, employees and communities. The company is making additional investments enabled by tax reform savings, including: $200 million additional investments in capital expenditures and research and development in 2018 $100 million in employee training and educational opportunities over the next five years $50 million investment in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education enrichment, including the establishment of a new Lockheed Martin STEM Scholarship Fund $10 million for the launch of the Lockheed Martin Innovation Prize competition More details of Lockheed Martin's investments enabled by tax reform legislation can be found here. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2018-06-07-Lockheed-Martin-Announces-100-Million-Venture-Fund-Increase

All news