New production line for Predator landing gear
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and GKN Aerospace Fokker have opened a new production line for landing gear systems for the Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper UAS in Helmond, the Netherlands, it was announced on 26 April.
GKN Aerospace's Fokker is GA-ASI's Dutch in-country partner for the provision of Predator to the Dutch armed forces.
The highly automated production line will have an expected production volume of 30-50 landing gear systems per year, with the first to be delivered in Q2 2017 for the UAS' global supply chain.
The companies will explore the possibility of applying advanced composites technologies to reduce the weight of the landing gear and improve production lead times.
The Dutch government announced its selection of the MQ-9 in late 2013. The Dutch air force will field a single system consisting of four UAS and ground control station.
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