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Background
– Canadian Forces JUSTAS MALE UAV – Predator |
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General Atomics’ lineages get a little complicated.[3] Basically, I-GNAT was lengthened to become
Predator-A (8.23m long vs 4.87m). Both are powered by Rotax aircraft engines (912 or 914). The current
production Predator-B is much revised. The small piston engine is replaced with a Honeywell TP 331 turboprop
putting out nine-times more power. Again the fuselage was lengthened (to 11m) but more dramatic was stretching the
high aspect-ratio wings from 14.84m to over 20m. This sailplane-like wing reinforces the design goal of the
Predator – to create a lower-cost, UAV replacement for the U-2 spyplane. The Altair (which we will cover separately) has extended wings of even greater span (26m).
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Payload has also increased (from 200kg to 363kg) but external mission pods can add another 1350kg to payload. This
pod is usually carried on the fuselage centre line but Predators can be fitted with wing pylons which can
carry additional sensors (recce pod [4] or SAR radar set ) or weapons. Other than long span wings, the
Predator-B’s revised tailplane is immediately obvious (the inverted V of earlier models gave way to a much
larger Y-shaped empennage to deal with size/power increase).
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Like the long-span Altair/Mariners, the Predators have both military and quasi-civilian
application. US Customs and Border Protection bought two Predator-Bs in 2005 for the Mexican
border (one of which crashed) and want more to patrol the US-Canada border. Such a degree of surveillance
along borders of allies may raise eyebrows. These UAV flights are also contentious for being in high air
traffic areas. A concern relevant to CF MALE plans.
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[1] Predator-A and Predator-B are conventional names used here in preference to official US
designations, RQ-1/MQ-1 and RQ-9/MQ-9.
[2] I-GNAT (often I-Gnat, nowadays) was proceeded by the GNAT-750 which, in turn, was developed from
LSI’s Amber prototypes. The GNAT-750 retained Amber’s Rotax aircraft engine (48.5kW /65hp
Model 582) but simplified the layout. The I-GNAT (Improved Gnat) was enlarged and has a more powerful
engine (78.3kW / 105hp Rotax 914). DND leased an I-GNAT (and crew) for Exercise Robust Ram in 2002.
[3] This is due in part to the series’ fiberglass construction which lends itself to dimension changes
more economically than do stressed- skinned aluminum structures. As a simplification, it can be said that GNATs are
line-of-sight data relay systems and Predators SATCOM.
[4] The small Lynx synthetic aperture radar can be carried on wing pylons. The RAF mounts DB-110 Raptor
recce pod on its Predator-Bs. (These pods are also used on RAF Tornado aircraft). The CF hasn’t
had a fighter reconnaissance capability since the CF-5 retired in 1995. However, the CF plans to buy Advanced
Multi-Role Infrared Sensors as part of the CF-18 IMP. AMIRS could be used as a recce
pod but only if this new infrared sensor was of a high enough resolution (compared with the Predator’s
built-in IR ball turret) to warrant inclusion.
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General Atomic’s Predator-A [1] has been in USAF service since 1995, deploying to Bosnia but
Predator really came to public attention in Afghanistan in 2002 when armament was added to what had been a
purely reconnaissance UAV. The
airframe itself is derived from the earlier