The UK Royal Air Force is to form an unmanned air vehicle squadron as the home for its two General Atomics MQ-9 Predator Bs. Approvals for the new unit were recently given within the Ministry of Defence, says Wg Cdr Andrew Jeffrey, its director of air staff - UAV operations.
The new squadron will be structured as two flights, with B flight to operate the MQ-9s and A flight to comprise the RAF detachment that forms part of the Joint Predator Task Force at Nellis AFB, Nevada. This operates US Air Force-owned MQ-1 Predator As over Afghanistan and Iraq. The MoD's $77 million MQ-9 acquisition will deliver initial operational capability from 2007.The UK wants its first platform to be available from May to support training.
Source: Flight International
