RAF Protector: What is this aircraft and what can it do?
The first of the Royal Air Force's Protector aircraft has arrived in the UK and is set to undergo a series of rigorous tests at RAF Waddington.
The remotely piloted Protector arrived at the Lincolnshire base where it will have to pass a number of trials before the type can enter service.
A further 15 aircraft will arrive from the US as part of a phased delivery, with all Protectors expected to be operational by 2025.
But what is the Protector and what will it bring to the RAF?
The Protector will replace the Reaper drone fleet, taking on the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) role.
Expected to enter service in the latter months of 2024, the design is built on the existing Reaper drone system.
The Protector is a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) and can reach heights of 40,000ft with a payload of up to 4,800lbs (2,177kg).
It can carry out missions in non-segregated civil airspace, enabling it to respond rapidly to requests across most of the globe.
The aircraft has a wingspan of 24m and can hit 210 KTAS (Knots True Airspeed).
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems was awarded the Ministry of Defence (MOD) contract to build the aircraft in 2020.
The company will also build three control stations and support equipment as part of the deal.
The Protector RG Mk1, the British variant of the MQ-9B drone, will be capable of being flown anywhere in the world while being operated by personnel located at its RAF Waddington home base.
The UK's first Protector RG Mk1 aircraft completed its inaugural flight in September 2020, taking to the skies in the US for its first rounds of test flights.
In May, personnel from 54 Squadron started training on how to fly the remotely piloted Protector in the US, before undergoing the Instructor Operating Course on simulators for the Protector aircraft at the General Atomics in Grand Forks, North Dakota in August.
The new aircraft are advanced, medium-altitude long-endurance RPAS which should enhance armed ISTAR capability.
It will also be the first RPAS to be designed, built and certified against stringent Nato and UK safety certification standards equivalent to manned aircraft, according to the RAF.
The RPAS, which has also been known as the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, will be fitted with the Brimstone missiles and Paveway bomb systems, and will use onboard sensors to avoid other aircraft.
There are seven weapons stations on the drone, meaning a total of 21 Brimstone missiles could be carried.
This means a significant uplift over Reaper, which could carry four Hellfire missiles or two 500lb laser-guided bombs.
The Protector can fly consistently for up to 40 hours and will be deployed across the full spectrum of operations, including search and rescue, flood prevention, or disaster response missions.
The fleet will also have advanced anti-icing and lightning protection, providing the RAF with the flexibility to operate in adverse weather conditions.
The UK and Belgium have agreed to look at ways they can work together and further enhance the new Protector drone programme, as both nations will be acquiring their own variants of the MQ-9B aircraft.
In 2020, both countries signalled the growing desire for collaboration with a Bilateral Statement of Intent being signed by Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston and his Belgian counterpart.
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