Friday, October 23, 2015

GA-ASI improves Predator B for multiple customers

Predator B RPA Reaper ER Variant
GA-ASI Describes Progress Toward Certifying the Reaper | Defense News: Aviation International News

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) reported progress toward the creation of a NATO-certifiable version of the Predator B RPA, also known as the Reaper. The company is eyeing potential orders from Germany, the Netherlands and Spain for such a development, as well as re-orders from France, Italy and the UK. GA-ASI has also announced the operational fielding of the extended-range (ER) version of the Reaper by the U.S. Air Force, and an order for an improved version of the Gray Eagle, which is the U.S. Army version of the Predator.

Certifiable Predator B (CPB)

GA-ASI Flies Advanced Communications System Aboard Predator B
In a 48-minute flight from GA-ASI’s airfield at Gray Butte near Palmdale, Calif., a company-owned Predator B tested a Rohde & Schwarz MR6000A air traffic control radio. GA-ASI noted that this VHF/UHF radio is certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and in service on the Airbus A400M airlifter. The company has already flown a Due Regard Radar (DRR) of its own design on the Predator-B. To achieve certification, GA-ASI also intends to add a de-icing system and modify the structure to withstand bird and lightning strikes. The target date to complete the first Certifiable Predator B (CPB) is late 2017.

Reaper ER

U.S. Air Force Fields MQ-9 Reaper Extended Range
The U.S. Air Force is buying 38 Reaper ER versions in a Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) contract on “a challenging schedule” according to GA-ASI. Two wing-mounted fuel tanks extend the aircraft’s endurance to 33 to 35 hours. All the original weapons/payload pylons are retained. To accomodate the higher gross weight, the Honeywell TPE331-10 turboprop powerplant is modified with a  four-blade propeller and an alcohol/water injection system, and a heavyweight trailing arm landing gear installed. The changes can be installed in the field.

Improved Gray Eagles

GA-ASI Awarded Major U.S. Army Contract for Improved Gray Eagle
Officials announce full-rate production contract for Improved Gray Eagles at AUSA show - Military Embedded Systems 
The U.S. Army announced this week a full-rate production contract for 19 Improved Gray Eagles (IGEs), for delivery by September 2018. It previously ordered 152 of the original MQ-1C version. They have flown more than 228,000 hours since 2008, GA-ASI reported. The IGE has an increased MTOW (4,200l pounds versus 3,600 pounds) and a redesigned lower fuselage that contains 850 pounds of internal fuel plus a centerline hardpoint for an optional fuel pod that adds another 450 pounds. This brings the type’s endurance to nearly 40 hours.

Army and Air Force Programs?

Did the Army and Air Force Squander $500 Million Fighting Over a Drone? | The Fiscal Times

A 2010 Pentagon Inspector General report, obtained by The Intercept through a Freedom of Information Act request, says the services spent $115 million between 2008 and 2009 on research efforts to combine their Predator drone programs that ultimately proved “ineffective.”

In 2008, Pentagon leaders ordered the Army and Air Force to combine their programs in a bid to save money, as they were essentially buying the same kind of drone from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, though the aircraft differed in certain ways, such as the fuel they used. But the services never acted on the order. The Air Force stopped buying the Predator, opting for its larger variant, the Reaper, which still flies in several versions in combat zones today.

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