Royal Navy to trial General Atomics Project Mojave STOL drone
GA-ASI's Mojave in flight. (Photo: GA-ASI)
A UK MoD pre-contract notice has revealed that the UK RN plans to trial General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc’s (GA-ASI) Project Mojave Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) UAS.
According to MoD documents, the ministry intends to award a single-source contract worth £1.5 million to GA-ASI for a seven-month trial and experimentation period to demonstrate ‘a threshold capability for a Short Takeoff and Landing Uncrewed Air Vehicle (UAV).’
Mojave is a STOL-capable version of the MQ-9B MALE UAV which is designed to fly from aircraft carriers.
In its lightest configuration, the Mojave can take off in around 122m, less than half the length of the UK’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers’ 284m flight deck. Carrying 12 Hellfire missiles, the take-off distance increases to 304m.
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