General Atomics plan flights of its new drone in UK – safety fears rerouted previous flights in the US

15 February 2021 — Drone Wars

A SkyGuardian UAV at General Atomics’ California factory.

General Atomics is to bring a company-owned SkyGuardian drone to the UK in the summer to undertake “a series of operational capability demonstrations” for the UK and other NATO members. The RAF’s soon to be acquired Protector drone is a version of the SkyGuardian with a range of UK modifications. The aircraft is being shipped into the UK rather than flying in (possibly due to the controversy around a previous flight to the UK) and will be based at RAF Waddington.

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US Reaper drones test Agile Condor: Another step closer to ‘Killer Robots’

27 September 2019 — Drone Wars

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, manufacturer of the Reaper drone, has recently been awarded a US Air Force contract to demonstrate the  ‘Agile Condor’ artificial intelligence system with the MQ-9 Reaper drone.  According to General Atomics President David R. Alexander,
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General Atomics bring in BAE Systems to lobby for ‘Protector’ drone to fly in UK by Chris Cole

28 January 2019 — Drone Wars 

SkyGuardian MQ-9B, dubbed ‘Protector’ by UK MoD

Drone manufacturer, General Atomics, hosted an event in London on 24 January in order – as its press release put it – “to recognize UK companies that are contributing to operational systems such as MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1C Gray Eagle, and the new MQ-9B SkyGuardian RPA program” (which the UK MoD is calling ‘Protector’).

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