Tag: ACP

RAF’s new armed drone given approval to fly freely over UK  

Chris Cole
Protector RG1 flying over RAF Waddington. Crown Copyright.

The UK’s Military Aviation Authority (MAA) has issued ‘Military Type Certification’ to the UK’s new ‘Protector’ armed drone, meaning that it is now free to fly within UK airspace, including over populated areas.

Previously, for safety reasons, Protector and other large uncrewed systems such as the Protector’s predecessor, the Reaper, were only allowed to fly in segregated airspace, with other aircraft excluded.  Although large military drones are spreading rapidly, as Drone Wars has documented they continue to tumble out of the skies for a whole variety of reasons.

The UK is the first country to certify a large drone to fly freely in unsegregated airspace and General Atomics, the manufacturer of the drone – which they call MQ-9B SkyGuardian rather than UK designation of ‘Protector RG1’– were delighted as it has huge implications for their sales.  The company’s press release called it “a seminal achievement.”  A key element of the  approval, alongside “rigorous testing”, was apparently the ‘rigid separation’ of mission software from flight critical software.

Protector flights in the UK

The Protector has been undertaking a short series of test flights around RAF Waddington, the home of UK drone warfare, over the past few weeks. The Aviationist noted two tests in the past week which were of the longest duration so far, including one which saw the drone fly to RAF Marham before taking off and returning to Waddington.  RAF Marham is the nominated diversion airfield for the drone.

General Atomics reported that 10 of the 16 Protector drones ordered had now been delivered to the UK but it is not clear if these are all at RAF Waddington  as previous drones that have ‘been delivered’ to the RAF remained in the US for testing and trials.  The UK is increasingly secretive about its drone operations and exact details about when Protector is to come into service have been given vaguely as ‘by the end of 2025’.  Reaper is also expected to exit service by the end of the year.

Protector test and training flights are now likely to expand both in number and in range, including flights to launch weapons at Holbeach Air Weapons Range, near Boston in The Wash. Protector carries the Paveway IV guided bomb and Brimstone 3 missiles.

The Ministry of Defence has always been clear that Protector will also be available to support counter-terrorism operations within the UK and undertake Military Aid to Civilian Authorities (MACA) tasks such as assisting HM Coastguard with search and rescue missions.  Read more →

Developments on both sides of the Atlantic signal push to develop AI attack drones

Chris Cole
Artist impression of crewed aircraft operating with autonomous drones. Credit: Lockheed Martin

Recent government and industry announcements signal clear intent by both the US and the UK to press ahead with the development of a new generation of AI attack drones despite serious concerns about the development of autonomous weapons. While most details are being kept secret, it is clear from official statements, industry manoeuvring and budget commitments that these new drones are expected to be operational by the end of the decade.

The current focus is the development of drones that were previously labelled as ‘loyal wingman’ but are now being described either as ‘Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) or ‘Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP).  As always, the nomenclature around ‘drones’ is a battlefield itself.  The concept for this type of drone is for one or more to fly alongside, or in the vicinity of, a piloted military aircraft with the drones carrying out specifically designated tasks such as surveillance, electronic warfare, guiding weapons onto targets, or carrying out air-to-air or air-to-ground strikes.  Rather than being directly controlled by individual on the ground such as current armed drones like the Reaper or Bayraktar, these drones will fly autonomously. According to DARPA officials (using the beloved sports metaphor) these drone will allow pilots to direct squads of unmanned aircraft “like a football coach who chooses team members and then positions them on the field to run plays.”

Next Generation

In May, the US Air Force issued a formal request for US defence companies to bid to build a new piloted aircraft to replace the F-22.  However, equally important for the ‘Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD)’ program is the development of new autonomous drones and a ‘combat cloud’ communication network.  While the development of the drones is a covert programme, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said they will be built “in parallel” to the piloted aircraft. Kendall publicly stated that the competition to develop CCA was expected to begin in Fiscal Year 2024 (note this runs from Oct 2023 to Sept 2024).

While it is planning to build around 200 of the new crewed aircraft, Kendall told reporters that the USAF is expecting to build around 1,000 of the drones. “This figure was derived from an assumed two CCAs per 200 NGAD platforms and an additional two for each of 300 F-35s for a total of 1,000,” Kendall explained. Others expect even more of these drones to be built.  While the NGAD fighter aircraft itself is not expected to be operational until the 2030s, CCA’s are expected to be deployed by the end of the 2020’s.

It’s important to be aware that there will not be one type of drone built under this programme, but a range with different capabilities able to carry out different tasks.  Some of them will be ‘expendable’ – that is designed for just one mission – something like the ‘one-way attack’ drones that we have seen increasing used in Ukraine and elsewhere; some will be ‘attritable’, that is designed that if they are lost in combat it would not be severely damaging, while others, described as ‘exquisite’ will be more capable and specifically designed not to be lost during combat.  A number of companies have set out their proposals, with some even building prototypes and undertaking test flights. Read more →