{"id":34748,"date":"2018-07-13T14:06:15","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T14:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/13\/gamechangeraerial-drone-arrives-in-uk-after-mammoth-24-hour-transatlantic-flight\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:57:22","slug":"gamechangeraerial-drone-arrives-in-uk-after-mammoth-24-hour-transatlantic-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2018\/07\/13\/gamechangeraerial-drone-arrives-in-uk-after-mammoth-24-hour-transatlantic-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Gamechanger\u2019 aerial drone arrives in UK after mammoth 24-hour transatlantic flight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">RAF FAIRFORD, England \u2014 General Atomics Aeronautical Systems\u2019 developmental MQ\u22129B SkyGuardian made the first ever transatlantic flight of a medium-altitude, long endurance aerial drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The unmanned aerial vehicle completed touched down at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom after a 3,760 nautical mile sortie from the U.S. July 11 that began at the Grand Forks test site in North Dakota 24 hours and 2 minutes prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The journey was the first transatlantic flight of both the SkyGuardian and any MALE UAV, but also the first U.K. appearance of the UAV that the Royal Air Force will operate under its Protector program.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/riat\/2018\/07\/13\/northrops-fire-scout-drone-gets-a-new-look-for-its-european-debut\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Fire-Scout-RIAT.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Northrop\u2019s Fire Scout drone gets a new look for its European debut<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Northrop is highlighting the helicopter drone&#039;s anti-submarine warfare capability at the Royal International Air Tattoo.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.K. is the launch customer for SkyGuardian, and the journey to RAF Fairford to take part in the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) ties in with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/riat\/2018\/07\/11\/see-britains-royal-air-force-celebrate-its-100th-birthday-with-this-huge-flyover\/\" target=_blank>the RAF\u2019s centenary celebrations, <\/a>as the MQ\u22129B will be one of the next combat aircraft types delivered to the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">L3 Technologies Communication Systems provided Ku-band satellite communication (SATCOM) to control the UAV throughout the flight with no handover to a control station in the U.K, although Inmarsat Government provided a backup L-band SATCOM capability in case of failure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A line-of-sight ground control station was shipped to Fairford and was responsible for taxiing the aircraft once it had carried out its automatic landing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It flew at approximately 27,000 feet for most of the flight, dropping to 9,000 feet and maintaining a holding pattern near Fairford for some 2 hours ahead of landing, transiting initially via Canada, over to the South of Ireland, and then over Wales before reaching its end destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/riat\/\" target=_blank><b>Click here to get all of the latest news from the Royal International Air Tattoo.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jonny King, vice-president of GA-ASI UK, told a media briefing at Fairford that the transit demonstrates that the UAV is self-deploying, and the journey was relatively routine for the test aircraft \u2014 just with a different landing destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It has previously flown a sortie of more than 48 hours, King noted, and for the transatlantic flight it was able to fly under the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s authorization, with support from the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority that granted an overflight permission for the transit into U.K. airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the U.K. is on record as being the launch customer for the SkyGuardian through its Protector effort, the aircraft is yet to go through certification testing \u2014 one of the most distinguishing features of this variant \u2014 and will not be delivered to the RAF until the early 2020s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Development and certification contracts for Protector have been signed, but a production contract for the buy is not expected to be signed for some time, the RAF told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Marshal Julian Young, chief of materiel for air, defense equipment and support for the RAF, said that it is expected that Protector will be acquired under two direct commercial sales contracts and two foreign military sales deals with the U.S. government, covering the various elements of development and acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cProtector is one of the most exciting projects I have to deliver,\u201d Young said, adding that it will be a \u201cgamechanger\u201d in its ability to fly alongside manned aircraft under the remit of air traffic control, with the ultimate goal of being able to fly in open airspace alongside uncontrolled aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a key component of the future of the RAF\u2019s air power,\u201d he told media at the aircraft landing event. \u201cI hope this is going to set the standard for aviation. The U.K. is very happy to be the lead with this unique capability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SkyGuardian has been in test flight for some 18 months so far, King said, adding that the second test aircraft \u2013 YBCO2 \u2013 will join the first aircraft in test flight in the next month or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In accordance with the U.K.\u2019s 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the RAF will more than double its MALE UAV capability, which is currently fulfilled by a fleet of 10 Block 1 MQ-9 Reapers, so as few as 21 could be acquired, although 26 is a figure that has been previously touted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The RAF has claimed that integrating UK-made weaponry is a priority for the program, so it will operate MBDA\u2019s Brimstone ground attack missile and Raytheon UK Paveway IV laser-guided bombs, although contracts for these have also not yet been signed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSovereignty is clearly an important issue,\u201d Young told Defense News, adding that while the Reapers that were bought in the same configuration operated by the U.S. Air Force have been a capability that the U.K. has been able to effectively exploit, more sovereignty would have been an advantage. But \u201cthis comes at a cost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added that the training capability that the U.K. will use is still undecided on, although the U.K. is open to this taking place domestically or with other partners should another nation elect to acquire aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SkyGuardian will be showcased throughout RIAT before being dismantled and shipped back to the U.S. a week later, King noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The unmanned aerial vehicle completed touched down at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom after a 3,760 nautical mile sortie from the U.S. July 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,29,32,57,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2951],"class_list":["post-34748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-uas","category-unmanned"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"N4PPQID3EBF7JD3BXWET5Y665A","arc_canonical_url":"\/digital-show-dailies\/riat\/2018\/07\/13\/gamechangeraerial-drone-arrives-in-uk-after-mammoth-24-hour-transatlantic-flight\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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