Date: 19 November, 2007
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA ASI), a leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical reconnaissance radars, has announced that its Predator UAS series has passed the milestone of 300,000 flight hours, with over 80% of that time spent in combat. The milestone was achieved by P-135 on June 15 while it performed an armed reconnaissance mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
This particular aircraft has flown over 125 combat missions in the year it has been deployed. Predator series aircraft have flown an average of 8,200 hours per month over the past six months. Over the past five-and-a-half years, monthly flight hours have increased 93%, growing from approximately 800 hours per month since 9/11 to over 11,000 hours last month. GA-ASI’s Sky Warrior Armed Reconnaissance System (ARS) will be delivered to the U.S. Army in late 2007 to provide long-endurance, armed reconnaissance for the US Army.
#In the interim, Sky Warrior Alphas have been delivered and are actively engaged in combat operations over Iraq. The multi-mission Predator B is in production and provides a long-endurance, persistent surveillance/strike capability, with the ability to fly at the optimum altitude from sea level to over 50,000 feet. Predator series aircraft are in constant daily operations supporting the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Customs and Border Protection (CBP), NASA, Italian Air Force, Turkish Army, and soon, the Royal Air Force.
These aircraft have been deployed in world trouble spots on five continents worldwide, including operations in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as over three of the world’s oceans.