On the third day of UVS International’s RPAS 2012 Conference in Paris on June 5 – 7, Stephen May of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, USA will present his “Predator Aircraft Series Status Report: Military & Civilian Missions”.
Steve May is currently Manager of International Strategic Development for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), in San Diego, Calif., USA. In this position, Mr. May is responsible for promoting opportunities for the company’s full line of unmanned aircraft systems, tactical reconnaissance radars, and sensor systems to customers in Europe. He has worked in business/strategic development for GA-ASI since 2001. In this role, Mr. May served as a member of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Perspective Study that was completed in July 2003. He also served as a UAV Subject Matter Expert assisting the NATO Air Group 7 Program Support Team that drafted the NATO MALE and HALE UAV Staff Requirements in 2005. He is currently on the Board of Directors for UVS International. Mr. May retired from the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and spent two-and-a-half years leading combat units in Vietnam. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Long Island University and Masters of Science degrees in Physics and Nuclear Engineering from MIT.
ABSTRACT
The deployment of NATO forces in Afghanistan has increased interest in ISTAR assets, particularly long endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) capable of carrying simultaneous mixed payloads and which are supporting NATO ground forces 24/7. Less known are the many civil uses of UAS. The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA- ASI) fleet of UAS has now accumulated more than 1,700,000 flight hours; approximately 90% of them in actual opera- tions. GA-SI unmanned aircraft are currently flying 30,000 hours/month. In 1994, GA-ASI first flew the Predator for the U.S. Department of Defense. Since then, Predator has become the most widely-known “brand” of UAS and includes MQ-1B and RQ- 1B Predator, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper, and now, Predator C Avenger.
The GA-ASI UAS will be briefly described. Each of the different aircraft will also be characterized. Emphasis will be placed on Preda- tor B military and civil (maritime, disaster relief, specialized payloads) missions. Predator B utilizes a turboprop engine and is designed with multiple system redundancies to make unmanned aircraft airworthiness certification finally feasible. Predator B was operationally deployed in 2006. In addition to its use by the USAF as MQ-9 Reaper; the United States Department of Homeland Security uses its own Predator B fleet to perform border reconnaissance missions, now inclu- ding maritime and coastal patrols, as well as disaster relief missions.
NASA also uses its Predator B to demonstrate its ability to carry specialized payloads. The United Kingdom RAF and the Italian Air Force have also acquired Predator B/ MQ-9. Procurement of Predator B/MQ-9 is being actively pursued by additional NATO nations.
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