Britain obtaining new variant Predator

FARNBOROUGH, England, July 12 (UPI) -- Britain's Ministry of Defense is to procure a new variant of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.'s Predator B remotely piloted aircraft.

The Certifiable Predator B, under development, is being acquired through a hybrid U.S. Foreign Military Sales/Direct Commercial Sale agreement and will be compliant with NATO's UAV System Airworthiness Requirements.

"GA-ASI is proud to offer CPB, the next-generation Predator B, to the Ministry of Defense to satisfy its emerging requirements for a Reaper replacement certified so that it will be capable, subject to developments in regulatory framework, to operate within unsegregated controlled airspace," said David R. Alexander, president of GA-ASI's Aircraft Systems. "Featuring enhanced safety and reliability systems, CPB will meet European airworthiness certification standards."

The Predator variant will feature hardware and software upgrades such as improved Predator B structural fatigue and damage tolerance and enhanced flight control software. It will also feature enhancements for operations in adverse weather including icing conditions and capabilities to survive bird and lightning strikes.

It will be highly modular and can be configured with a variety of payloads to meet mission requirements.

Britain will use the aircraft for its armed Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance requirements.

Construction of CPB has begun, with fuselage integration currently underway, GA-ASI said at the Farnborough Air Show in Britain. Integration of wings and tail sections are planned for late this summer, with flight testing of the CPB airframe scheduled for later in 2016.