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Royal Air Force begins training on new Protector remotely piloted aircraft system

10th May 2023 - 16:30 GMT | by Norbert Neumann in Seoul

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The Protector training includes simulation and live flight of the aircraft. (Photo: UK MoD/ Crown Copyright)

The Royal Air Force has started training its first cohort of pilots, sensor operators and mission intelligence coordinators on operating its new Protector at General Atomics' Flight Test & Training Centre in the US.

The RAF has begun training its first cohort of pilots, sensor operators and mission intelligence coordinators on operating its new Protector Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) at the Flight Test & Training Center (FTTC) in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The FTTC is owned and operated by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), which has begun deliveries of Protector RPAS to the RAF.

Protector is a derivative of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian and is initially being flown in the US for training.

GA-ASI is training the first four Operational Conversion Units (OCU), each comprising eight crews, including pilots, sensor operators (SO) and mission

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