Top Page | English | 简体中文 | 繁體中文 | 한국어 | 日本語
Friday, 9 May 2025, 00:00 HKT/SGT
Share:
    

Source: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc
UK Certifies Protector As First of Its Kind Remotely Piloted Aircraft

SAN DIEGO, CA, May 9, 2025 - (ACN Newswire) - The UK's Military Aviation Authority has issued a Military Type Certificate to the Royal Air Force's Protector RG Mk1 uncrewed aircraft, also designated the MQ-9B, certifying that it has passed a rigorous airworthiness assessment and verifying it's safe to operate without geographic restrictions, including over populous areas. This April 29 decision was a first-of-its-kind milestone for a large, unmanned aircraft system. It's a huge accomplishment for the UK and a technological watershed in the history of unmanned aircraft systems. GA-ASI is the first manufacturer of large, unmanned aircraft to receive an MTC based on rigorous compliance with STANAG 4671, the NATO standard for unmanned aircraft system airworthiness.

Obtaining the MTC has been a goal of GA-ASI since the inception of the MQ-9B in January 2014. The company took its proven UAS platform, the MQ-9A, and added performance enhancing features while ensuring that the design was capable of meeting NATO's STANAG 4671 Edition 2 airworthiness requirements. To meet those rigorous requirements, the aircraft incorporates numerous enhancements not found on other large UAS. These include lightning protection, fire protection, anti-icing systems and a fatigue-and-damage-tolerant building block design approach. All flight critical software was designed in compliance with the rigor of Do-178/254. Mission software is rigidly separated from flight critical software. These features not only address the aircraft's airworthiness but also enhance its reliability and operational flexibility to levels unmatched by other UAS.

"Earning an MTC for MQ-9B was a herculean effort and a seminal achievement for our company," said GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue. "We invested over $500 million as part of an 11-year effort to develop an unmanned aircraft that meets NATO's rigorous airworthiness standards. This included three flight test aircraft, full component and system-level environmental testing to Do-160 and Mil-Standards (system level environmental testing at Elgin and Pax River), full scale static test airframe test to ultimate ground and flight loads, bird strike, hail protection and full-scale fatigue testing to three lifetimes (3x 40,000 notional aircraft flight hours = 120,000 hours total). Our engineers developed over 140,000 pages of detailed technical data verifying that the MQ-9B met those demanding requirements. I congratulate our team for this outstanding accomplishment, and I know our customers need this type certification, which will open civil airspace for their flight operations."

The Royal Air Force continues to take delivery of new Protector aircraft at their home in the North of England at RAF Waddington. The UK has 10 aircraft of the 16 it has ordered.

"Achieving the award of a first in class Military Type Certificate has required years of dedication and perseverance and is a testament to the hard work of all involved. It is a privilege to be the first to be awarded an MTC for the Protector Air System," said Gp. Capt. Neil Venables, Type Airworthiness Authority and holder of the Protector Type Certificate.

MQ-9B is the world's most advanced medium altitude, long endurance UAS. MQ-9B includes the SkyGuardian® and SeaGuardian® models as well as the Protector operated by the RAF.

In addition to the UK, GA-ASI has MQ-9B orders from Belgium, Canada, Poland, Japan Coast Guard, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Taiwan, India, and the U.S. Air Force in support of the Special Operations Command. MQ-9B has also supported various U.S. Navy exercises, including Northern Edge, Integrated Battle Problem, RIMPAC, and Group Sail.

About GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is the world's foremost builder of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Logging more than 8 million flight hours, the Predator® line of UAS has flown for over 30 years and includes MQ-9A Reaper®, MQ-1C Gray Eagle® 25M, MQ-20 Avenger®, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian®/SeaGuardian®. The company is dedicated to providing long-endurance, multi-mission solutions that deliver persistent situational awareness and rapid strike.

For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com.

Avenger, EagleEye, Gray Eagle, Lynx, Predator, Reaper, SeaGuardian, and SkyGuardian are trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., registered in the United States and/or other countries.

Contact Information
GA-ASI Media Relations
asi-mediarelations@ga-asi.com
(858) 524-8101

SOURCE: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.




Topic: Press release summary
Source: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc

Sectors: Aerospace & Defence
http://www.acnnewswire.com
From the Asia Corporate News Network


Copyright © 2025 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.



General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc
Apr 17, 2025 01:00 HKT/SGT
GA-ASI Announces Technology Investments From Blue Magic Netherlands
Apr 8, 2025 23:00 HKT/SGT
GA-ASI Inks Collaboration Deal With South Korea's Hanwha
Feb 26, 2025 07:00 HKT/SGT
GA-ASI Advances Sub-Hunting With Test of New Air-Dropped Sensors
Feb 19, 2025 15:00 HKT/SGT
GA-ASI and CAE Sign Long-Term Agreement to Develop the Next Generation MQ-9B SkyGuardian(R) Mission Trainer
Dec 4, 2024 08:00 HKT/SGT
Japan Maritime Defense Force Selects SeaGuardians From GA-ASI
Dec 3, 2024 07:00 HKT/SGT
15 Companies Pitch Their Capabilities at GA-ASI's Blue Magic Netherlands
Oct 15, 2024 01:00 HKT/SGT
GA-ASI Completes Full-Scale Fatigue Test on MQ-9B for Second Lifetime
Sept 27, 2024 08:00 HKT/SGT
GA-ASI Adds NIDV and NATO DIANA to Blue Magic Netherlands Agenda
Aug 16, 2024 05:00 HKT/SGT
Japan Buys Two SeaGuardians From GA-ASI
July 23, 2024 07:00 HKT/SGT
Second RAF Protector Now Operating in Waddington
More news >>
 News Alerts
Copyright © 2025 ACN Newswire - Asia Corporate News Network
Home | About us | Services | Partners | Events | Login | Contact us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | RSS
US: +1 214 890 4418 | China: +86 181 2376 3721 | Hong Kong: +852 8192 4922 | Singapore: +65 6549 7068 | Tokyo: +81 3 6859 8575

Connect With us: