Milestone reached: RAF Protector drone passes 'advanced weapons' test
The Protector drone in service with the RAF for the last year has successfully completed testing with "cutting-edge" weaponry, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) announced at the opening of the Farnborough International Air Show.
Trials, carried out in California in June under MOD approval, qualified the Paveway IV laser-guided bomb and the Brimstone 3 air-to-surface missile for launch from MQ-9B aircraft.
The Protector RG Mk1 Remotely Piloted Aircraft, based on the MQ-9B, operates from RAF Waddington and is controlled from the base.
When the aircraft entered service with the air force in 2025, a year before the latest weapons test, an announcement from the RAF read: "Protector introduces a unique and long-endurance capability to UK Defence, specialising in intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance as well as strike operations."
Replacing the Reaper drone, Protector is the first remotely piloted aircraft of its type capable of flying in the UK in all classes of airspace.
Describing this weapons qualification as a "landmark achievement", RAF Programme Director, Group Captain Rob Evans said: "[It] demonstrates not only the maturity of the platform, but also the ability of the programme to integrate advanced weapons with a cutting-edge, certified, remotely piloted air system".
He added the developments will help ensure "the United Kingdom remains equipped to meet evolving security challenges in an increasingly complex security environment."
The success in the US-based tests concludes a six-year collaboration between the US, UK and industry, according to GA-ASI, who are the owners of the South Carolina facility and manufacturers of the MQ-9B aircraft.
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