Defence officials are pushing the US Air Force and Army to combine their current plans to buy three different models of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ Predator unmanned air vehicle, possibly by eliminating future orders for the RQ-1 Predator A.
Army officials in September awarded General Atomics a more than $210 million contract to build a Predator variant called the Warrior to fulfil the service’s need for 132 extended-range/multi-purpose (ERMP) unmanned aircraft, following an airframe selection announced the previous month (Flight International, 16-22 August 2005). An initial 17 Warrior UAVs from this order will be delivered by mid-2009 under current plans. The air force, meanwhile, plans to buy about 150 more Predator air vehicles, with a still undefined mix of Predator As and larger MQ-9 Predator Bs to be ordered.
Senior US defence officials have now asked the two services to combine at least one of the variants, with a special focus on forcing the USAF to buy the Warrior instead of the Predator A, says Brig Gen Stephen Mundt, director of the army aviation task force.
A driving factor behind the move stems from the reduced cost of acquiring the army’s Predator ERMP variant, he says, as this is one-third the price of a Predator A model.
The services had expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in mid-January that would initiate a 60-day study, says Mundt. If pursued, the process will conclude with the signing of a memorandum of agreement to streamline future Predator acquisitions.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
