Earlier this month, the California-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) passed a significant milestone when it undertook the first flight of a preproduction Sky Warrior unmanned vehicle. This event came just days before the company’s Reconnaissance Systems Group won an important contract to supply intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) suites that will be installed in Iraqi air force manned surveillance platforms.
Sky Warrior is a derivative of the well-known MQ-1 Predator operated by the U.S. Air Force over Iraq and Afghanistan, tasked with providing ISR, plus an attack capability. The Sky Warrior was developed from the MQ-1 in response to the U.S. Army’s Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) unmanned aircraft system requirement. Compared with the Predator, Sky Warrior for the Army has a heavy fuel engine (HFE) that allows it to cruise above 29,000 feet, and a larger antenna fairing in the forward fuselage. Sky Warrior also has a triple-redundant avionics system and expanded weapons capability.
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