Protector – Reaper on Steroids

The UK RPAS capability is set to take an exponential step with the imminent introduction of Reaper’s successor system, Protector. MS&T’s Europe Editor, Dim Jones, outlines the training challenges.

To those who have not experienced the role, there is something slightly surreal about flying an armed aircraft in a Middle Eastern operational theatre while sat in an ISO container in Lincolnshire or Nevada. It is also somewhat bizarre to be undertaking such a mission and then reverting to a normal domestic life. Moreover, some of the dedicated people who do this have been doing it for a very long time. Operational issues aside, opinions vary among crews as to the degree of immersion they experience: some feel as if they are in a GCS controlling a remote aircraft, some feel more as if they are in the aircraft itself. One gentleman remarked that the experience was not dissimilar to his previous life in the back of a Nimrod, with a bank of displays in front of him and no window, the principal difference being that the chance of feeling sick in the GCS was less!

In the days of Operation Herrick (Afghanistan) and the early days of Op Shader, the operational tempo was so high that there was not much spare time for synthetic training, nor was the fidelity available to make it as effective as the force would have liked; there was no GCS simulator, and the synthetic environment had not been sufficiently developed to confer the desired degree of immersion.

Much has changed since then, not least the mix of experienced crossover aircrew from other types, and ab initio RPAS. Although the operational GCS can still be used for simulation by ‘plugging in’ to the synthetic environment, there is now a purpose-built stand-alone ‘whole crew’ simulator which confers some advantages, not least that it allows a much more immersive wrap-around and the introduction of ‘white forces’, and uses a stand-alone network to create a synthetic Link 16 air and ground picture and airspace construct, thereby facilitating training and mission rehearsal which would not be possible in the operational GCS.

Although the recent decrease in operational tempo on Op Shader has deprived crews of some opportunity for valuable on-the-job live training, it has also allowed more considered and focused use of simulation. The ratio between ‘live’ and ‘virtual’ – the live/synthetic balance – is generally driven by operational requirements, and there are elements of live flying, such as random occurrences and ‘operational friction’, which are hard to simulate. Nevertheless, the synthetic environment confers the ability to replicate what used to occur operationally; during combat-ready (CR) work-up training, approximately 50% of the flying is now simulated, and this could, in the future, be increased further towards the RAF’s stated aspiration of 80% synthetic.

To carry out and supervise initial and CR work-up training for each crew speciality, there are qualified instructors accredited by the RAF’s Central Flying School. In the case of Qualified Weapons Instructors (QWI), candidates undergo a six month course, facilitated by No 54 Squadron (the ISTAR Operational Conversion Unit) and No 92 Squadron (the Weapons and Tactics Squadron). The course is modelled on the Typhoon QWI Course and, after a four week role-specific groundschool, trainees complete a Combined QWI groundschool and a syllabus which comprises both simulated and live flying, and culminates in ‘Exercise Cobra Warrior’, a Combined Air Operations (COMAO) scenario in which all aspects of operations will be tasked and assessed. In the future, the QWI course is planned to be modularised and carried out over a two year period, the first-year module concentrating on tactics instruction.

Enter SkyGuardian

In 2015, then-Prime Minister David Cameron announced the planned acquisition of a new RPA system, to be called Protector. The following year, this was revealed to be a variant of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9B SkyGuardian, for which the UK would be the first customer and Lead Partner Nation. Using SkyGuardian as a baseline, Protector is a UK design – albeit the aircraft will be manufactured by GA – and will, therefore, be able to integrate UK-manufactured weapons and equipment, whereas Reaper weapons are all of US origin. Indeed, UK engineers have been working alongside GA in California since 2014.

SkyGuardian itself is a ‘Certifiable Variant’ of the MQ-9, the ‘certifiable’ tag indicating that, inter alia, it will be equipped and certified to operate in controlled airspace anywhere in the world, albeit restrictions may be imposed by national air traffic control authorities. In 2018, it was announced that 16 aircraft, designated Protector RG Mk1, would be acquired starting in 2023 and, in 2020, a firm order was placed for three aircraft, with an option for 13 more. (UK Defence Minister Jeremy Quin recently announced, during a visit to GKN Aerospace – who will be manufacturing key parts of the aircraft on the Isle of Wight – that the MoD has exercised this option in a £195m ($268m) contract.)

A new squadron, No 31, would be formed at Waddington in early 2022 and, with the commensurate drawdown of the Reaper force, 39 Squadron would be repatriated and disbanded, and its personnel reassigned to XIII Sqn. The aircraft themselves would be based at Waddington, thence to be deployed as required.

At first glance, Protector may look like Reaper, and the general configuration is similar, but it is a very different animal. It is considerably larger – a 79ft wingspan as opposed to 66ft, with a maximum take-off weight of 5670kg, a payload of 363kg internal and 1814kg external, and a fuel capacity of 2721kg which, together with the Honeywell TPE331-10 turboprop, delivering 940shp at 1591rpm, gives it an impressive endurance of the order of 40 hours at a speed of 210kts.

The airspace certification requires airframe survivability enhancements, such as bird- and lightning-strike resilience, engine compartment fire protection and a de-ice/anti-ice system. It also requires a Detect and Avoid System (DAAS), and Protector will be equipped with TCAS2, IFF, Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADSB) and a ‘due regard’ radar, giving it both active and passive capability. The command-and-control software will be compliant with NATO STANAG 4761 and UK DEF STAN 00-970, and control will be exercised from the GA-ASI Advanced Cockpit, housed in purpose-built permanent accommodation.

Sensor payload and weapons can be mounted both internally and on nine external stations, one centreline and eight underwing. Weapons to be carried include Raytheon Paveway IV dual-mode GPS/INS and laser-guided precision munition, and the MBDA Brimstone attack missile, which has various guidance modes; originally designed for ‘fire-and-forget’ employment against massed armour, using Millimetric-Wave radar and target identification algorithms, the Counter-Insurgency operations in which Protector may now be employed demand human intervention for positive target identification, and precision delivery to minimise the risk of collateral damage.

The sensors include the Raytheon Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS-D), incorporating EO/IR, Cameras, Laser Target Designator and Illuminator, and the GA-ASI Lynx multi-mode synthetic aperture radar. An additional maritime surveillance capability exists, using a centreline-mounted radar; this not at present planned for Protector, but there is potential for future acquisition. Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) comms are via X, Ka- and Ku-Band antennae and V/UHF radio.

Lastly, Protector will have an Automatic Takeoff and Landing Capability (ATLC), which will eliminate the need for a launch and recovery party; the engineers will start the aircraft, the GCS crew will taxy it using cameras and datalink, the takeoff and landing will be automatically controlled, and GCS C2 will be assumed and relinquished at pre-briefed points. ATLC will require the operating airfield to be surveyed, and the same can be done for nominated diversion airfields in case of airborne emergency.

Training & Ops Challenges

The acquisition of Protector will present the RPAS force with several challenges. Due to its range, endurance and weapons and sensor capabilities, Protector will be suitable for a wider range of tasking than Reaper, which is primarily an ISR and Close Air Support (CAS) platform; this will present an increased training task. Its all-weather capability, long endurance, and operation from a single time zone will require 24-hour operations from a single base (whereas the Waddington/Creech configuration allowed mostly daytime operations from both locations) and careful scheduling.

Protector formal type training will be carried out in the UK, although the initial courses will take place at Grand Forks, with the first planned for April 2022. There are already Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E), Standardisation and Evaluation (STAN/EVAL) and Course Design personnel in the US. The ability to operate in controlled airspace will also require Protector pilots to hold an internationally recognised Instrument Rating; this, and other RPAS qualifications will have read-across to a rapidly burgeoning civil UAV industry.

The first five courses have already been populated, with the first two comprising experienced Reaper instructors, who will then remain in the US to assist with the delivery of training for their successors. Subsequent courses will be filled by a mix of qualified Reaper crews and ab initio students. All crews will complete the OCU regardless of background; ex-Reaper crews may not need to complete all aspects, however, as there are many similarities.

The most significant change for experienced personnel will be the Human Machine Interface (HMI). Protector MICs will now undergo a formal training course, whereas their Reaper predecessors trained on-the-job. Maintenance and ground handling will be carried out by a mix of RAF uniformed and GA contract technicians.

A SkyGuardian aircraft will be making a tour of Europe this summer, and Waddington will be its first port of call; the first Protector aircraft is expected at Waddington in July 2023, and declaration of Initial Operating Capability (IOC) scheduled towards the end of that year.

The Advanced Cockpit GCSs, which require certification just as the aircraft does, will be housed in permanent purpose-built technical accommodation, which will also include a full Synthetic Training Suite (STS). The crossover from Reaper to Protector is expected to take about six months, although this could be influenced by operational commitments; it is likely that XIII Sqn will then disband, although this is not confirmed. A second Protector squadron (numberplate as yet unannounced) will stand up in due course.

In just a few short years, the RAF’s Reaper force has developed from a UOR into an operationally effective core MALE RPAS capability, a capability which is about to take a major step forward with the introduction to service of the Protector RG Mk1.

Next page: Backstory - RPAS in the UK

Backstory – RPAS in the UK

The early years of operations in Afghanistan post-9/11 clearly demonstrated the utility of, and a role for, Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS). Accordingly, in 2006, the UK MoD established an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) for an armed Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) system, and purchased two General Atomics (GA) MQ9 Reaper aircraft from the US.

The RAF’s first Reaper unit, No 39 Squadron, was established at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, in 2006, with the aircraft based in Afghanistan. The crews – Pilots (who are also the aircraft captains), Sensor Operators and Mission Intelligence Co-ordinators (MICs) – were drawn from aircrew already qualified in front-line roles, predominantly fast-jet and Nimrod MR2, and from personnel in other RAF trades; MICs were drawn from the Intelligence Analyst trade-group, with no previous aircrew experience. Later, the pool was expanded to include aircrew from other fixed- and rotary-wing types, and remustering of personnel to RPAS from other branches, subject to successful aptitude testing. At a time of training backlog, some pilots already recruited and in training for crewed aircraft were re-streamed as ab initio RPAS pilots.

By 2012, the Reaper fleet had been extended to 10 aircraft, and the second unit, No XIII Squadron, formed at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. In 2014, it was announced that Reaper would be brought into the RAF’s core fleet at the end of operations in Afghanistan, and that same year Reaper was first used in Operation Shader, the RAF’s contribution to the campaign against ISIL. This also signalled a marked increase in the use of weaponry against ground targets in addition to Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). The RAF’s Reaper force is equipped with the GBU-12 Paveway II 500-lb laser-guided bomb, and Hellfire missiles, also laser-guided.

By this time, the RAF had completed Trial Daedalus, which took a cadre of non-aircrew individuals and trained them as RPAS pilots. The trial proved to be a success and, more recently, an RPAS career stream has been established, so that candidates are recruited, aptitude-tested and trained for the role from the outset, and have a career path to follow thereafter. The four Daedalus graduates all now hold the rank of Squadron Leader (OF-4), with good prospects of further promotion.

RPAS pilot training, in common with all other officer branches, commences with Initial Officer Training, a modular 24-week four term course at the RAF College Cranwell. This is followed by a six week groundschool course in Military Aviation, 16 weeks of Elementary Flying Training (EFT) on Tutor or Prefect (Grob 115 or 120TP) aircraft, and six months at the Formal Training Unit (FTU) at Holloman AFB, New Mexico.

Sensor Operators, a mix of officers and SNCOs, are drawn from the Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) and Systems Operators (WSOp) specialisations, respectively, candidates for which go through flying training together until streaming to crewed or uncrewed aircraft takes place at the advanced flying training stage.

The Reaper crew – sitting in either Creech or Waddington – operates from a Ground Control Station (GCS), housed in an ISO-container. Operational output is directed by the UK MoD, and passed to the squadrons so that they can schedule crews and aircraft appropriately. Detailed tasking for all operations in the Middle Eastern theatre is formulated by the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, and passed to the squadrons through an Air Tasking Order (ATO). The crew will then carry out the necessary mission planning and briefing, and take over the GCS. The general format and operating area will be familiar to them through long practice, and the planning and briefing will concentrate on any aspects specific to that mission.

The time delay in transmitting control commands from GCS to aircraft (approximately two seconds) presents no problem for normal operations, but is inappropriate for the purposes of takeoff and landing, so a handling crew at the deployed base launches the aircraft and, at a prebriefed point, hands over to the GCS crew, who perform systems checks and transit the aircraft to its assigned operating area.

For an ISR task, the aircraft will normally be under the control of a ground tasking authority, which may either direct the employment of the aircraft’s sensors or outline the task and leave the crew to determine the optimum configuration for best effect. The crew can make, and report, their own assessments of what the sensors are telling them; the sensor feed will be datalinked back to Waddington or Creech, and will then be disseminated as necessary for further exploitation.

If weapons employment is required, the aircraft will be handed over to a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) or Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) on the ground, who will then outline the task, deliver the required ‘9-Line brief’, and direct the attack.

A long-endurance sortie may well involve several crews; the preferred GCS ‘shift’ is about 2.5 hours. A handover between crews at the same base will be effected in the GCS; crews at different bases use a similar procedure to that used by the launch-and-recovery party handing over to the GCS, supplemented by a telephone call.

At the end of the mission, the reverse procedure will be employed, and the landing crew at the deployed base will take over the aircraft from the GCS crew at a predetermined point. All levels of maintenance on the aircraft are carried out at the deployment base.