Predator B flies with radar warning receiver

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA‑ASI) has demonstrated a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) on the Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 UAS in a flight trial from the company's Gray Butte flight operations facility.

The flight was carried out as part of work to demonstrate the ability of Predator B to operate with a RWR integrated as part of its standard payload pod in the proximity of threat radars and enemy air defences.

The receiver used was the Raytheon ALR-69A RWR, designed to provide enhanced situational awareness to aircrew and air element command and control units by identifying potential radar threats in or near contested airspace environments.

Various ground-based radars were used in the demonstration. In a number of flight profiles, the pod was able to validate RWR performance which met or exceeded current thresholds for both air and ground radar threats. Additionally, the RWR information to the flight crew was deemed useful for triggering flight crew action, such as manually cross-cueing to other onboard sensors to validate threat information.

GA-ASI plans further RWR demonstrations later in the year to include integration with a military Link 16 tactical data exchange network.

Development and testing is currently being conducted under internal research and development funding, with the goal of partnering with potential customers in the near future.