Reaper UAV

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has successfully completed the second endurance flight of its Predator B extended range (ER) remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), ending its Phase 1 flight test period.

The test flight took place between 17 and 18 June and was mainly aimed at assessing the drone’s wing external fuel tank integration and advanced fuel efficiency system.

GA-ASI Aircraft Systems president Frank Pace said: "This flight was a significant milestone for Predator B ER in that it closes out its phase I flight test period.

"The entire RPA system was successfully tested from start to finish, including flying a real-world representative mission with significant loiter time, and then returning to base."

During the flight, the drone successfully carried an external fuel tank on each wing and demonstrated the benefit of a new fuel management system that assures fuel and thermal balance among all fuel sources, such as the external tanks, the wing, and the fuselage.

In addition, General Atomics tested the aircraft’s alcohol water injection (AWI) system that shortens the required runway takeoff length, mainly at higher gross takeoff weights, higher altitude take-offs, and on hot days.

"The entire RPA system was successfully tested from start to finish, including flying a real-world representative mission with significant loiter time."

The Predator B ER RPA is an advanced derivative of the Predator B RPA, which had earlier accumulated more than 800,000 flight hours since 2001.

General Atomics will also carry out further testing of the unmanned vehicle next year, in a bid to validate other mission profiles and aircraft configurations.

The company had secured a US Air Force contract for construction of 38 Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper RPA under the ER option that enables deploying the aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.

The Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper RPA is also targeted at boosting endurance from 27 to 33-35 hours with the addition of two external fuel tanks to its existing wings and heavyweight landing gear to have room for a rise in maximum gross takeoff weight.

In addition, GA-ASI is working on an add-on ER option that enables deploying the aircraft for multi-purpose missions by increasing its endurance from 27 to 42 hours for ISR-only missions, with the first test flight anticipated by the end of the year.

Image: The US Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper UAV. Photo courtesy of US Air Force photo / staff Sgt Brian Ferguson.

Defence Technology