The
General Atomics MQ-1C Warrior (also called
Sky Warrior by General Atomics) is an Extended-Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP)
unmanned aerial vehicleAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an aircraft that flies without a human crew. Their largest uses are in military applications. To distinguish UAVs from missiles, a UAV is defined as a reusable, uncrewed vehicle capable of controlled, sustained, level flight and powered by a jet or reciprocating...
(UAV) under development by
General AtomicsGeneral Atomics is a nuclear physics and defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California. General Atomics’ basic research into fission and fusion matured into competence in many technologies, making General Atomics and its affiliated companies one of the world’s leading resources for...
(GA), funded by
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
. It is an upgrade of the MQ-1 Predator.
The U.S. Army initiated the Extended-Range Multi-Purpose UAV competition in 2002, with the winning aircraft due to replace the
RQ-5 HunterThe RQ-5 Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle was originally intended to serve as the United States Army's Short Range UAV system for division and corps commanders. It took off and landed on runways. It used a gimbaled EO/IR sensor to relay its video in real time via a second airborne Hunter over a...
. Two aircraft were entered, an upgraded version of the RQ-5 Hunter, and the Warrior.
The
General Atomics MQ-1C Warrior (also called
Sky Warrior by General Atomics) is an Extended-Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP)
unmanned aerial vehicleAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an aircraft that flies without a human crew. Their largest uses are in military applications. To distinguish UAVs from missiles, a UAV is defined as a reusable, uncrewed vehicle capable of controlled, sustained, level flight and powered by a jet or reciprocating...
(UAV) under development by
General AtomicsGeneral Atomics is a nuclear physics and defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California. General Atomics’ basic research into fission and fusion matured into competence in many technologies, making General Atomics and its affiliated companies one of the world’s leading resources for...
(GA), funded by
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
. It is an upgrade of the MQ-1 Predator.
Development
The U.S. Army initiated the Extended-Range Multi-Purpose UAV competition in 2002, with the winning aircraft due to replace the
RQ-5 HunterThe RQ-5 Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle was originally intended to serve as the United States Army's Short Range UAV system for division and corps commanders. It took off and landed on runways. It used a gimbaled EO/IR sensor to relay its video in real time via a second airborne Hunter over a...
. Two aircraft were entered, an upgraded version of the RQ-5 Hunter, and the Warrior. In August 2005, the Army announced the Warrior to be the winner and awarded a $214 million contract for system development and demonstration. The Army intends to procure 11 Warrior systems, each of these units has 12 UAVs and 5
ground control stationA ground control station is a land- or sea-based control center that provides the facilities for human control of unmanned vehicles in the air or in space. A GCS could be used to control unmanned aerial vehicles or rockets within or above the atmosphere....
s. With an expected total program cost of $1 billion, the aircraft is expected to become operational in 2009.
The Army sought to have the Warrior designated
MQ-12, but the
United States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military...
allocated the designation
MQ-1C instead. The drones are planned to be operated by
Task Force ODINTask Force ODIN, whose name is an acronym for Observe, Detect, Identify, and Neutralize, is a United States Army aviation battalion created in August 2006 to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting and acquisition operations to combat insurgent operators of improvised explosive devices in...
in
IraqThe Iraq War, also known as the Occupation of Iraq or Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States and the United Kingdom.Prior to the war, the governments of the United...
and/or
AfghanistanThe War in Afghanistan is an ongoing coalition conflict which began on October 7, 2001, as the British military participated in the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom that was launched in response to the September 11 attacks...
.
Design
A
Medium-Altitude Long-EnduranceMedium-Altitude Long-Endurance refers to an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle that flies at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hours.Some examples of MALE UAV systems are:...
(MALE) UAV, the Warrior has an increased wingspan and is powered by a
ThielertThielert AG is a German engine development and manufacturing company. It is headquartered in Hamburg, with additional sites in Lichtenstein, Saxony and Altenburg, Thuringia. It is quoted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as a member of the SDAX. Main unit Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH declared...
Centurion 1.7 Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE). This is a
diesel piston engineThe diesel engine has not been widely used as an aircraft engine. Its excellent specific fuel consumption has been outweighed by combination of its inherent disadvantages compared to gasoline-fueled or turboprop engines and the accidents of history...
that burns
jet fuelJet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw colored. The most common fuels are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to an internationally standardized set of specifications...
, giving the aircraft better performance at high altitudes. It will be capable of operating for 36 hours at altitudes up to , with an operating range of .
The aircraft's nose fairing has been enlarged to house a
Synthetic Aperture RadarSynthetic-aperture radar is a form of radar in which multiple radar images are processed to yield higher resolution images than would be possible by conventional means...
/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR-GMTI) system, and targeting is also provided with a AN/AAS-52 Multi-spectral Targeting System (MTS) under the nose. The aircraft can carry a payload of and can be armed with
AGM-114 HellfireThe AGM-114 Hellfire is a multi-platform, multi-target United States modular missile system. The name comes from the fact that it was originally intended to be a helicopter-launched fire-and-forget weapon...
missiles and GBU-44/B Viper Strike
guided bombsPrecision-guided munitions are guided weapons intended to precisely hit a specific target, and to minimize damage to things other than the target...
.
Specifications
See also
External links