Can't find the meme
2 men - helicopter - island - pizza delivery
Do we know how the Q9 Guardian drone is equipped? Just remote surveillance tech I presume? This is the one that we often spot paralelling the US southern border?
o7
Yesterday an anon pointed out
RACECAR is a palindrome (mirror).
Think mirror.
Look behind you.
I don't follow all the decodes very well but muh intuition shouts that we're very close to a major habbening.
Did the anon claim the autism badge that was made for them yesterday?
Interesting. ThankQ for article.
New Multi-mission Sky Guardian UAS Is More Than a Strike Drone
by Bill Carey - June 14, 2017
The unmanned aircraft system (UAS) commonly known as the Predator B or MQ-9 Reaper is a multi-mission platform that is capable of more than those monikers suggest, says manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). In fact, with the aircraft’s latest iteration, the U.S. company hopes to retire those names.
“We called our new aircraft Sky Guardian,” said Christopher Ames, GA-ASI regional vice president for Europe and NATO. “We’re trying to get away from the Predator and the Reaper and names like that because it suggests the aircraft performs only in a strike capacity.”
Indeed, the aircraft the U.S. and UK air forces have designated MQ-9 Reaper has figured in targeted strikes in various theaters and carries an assortment of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs and as of May, the GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition.
The Sky Guardian by comparison has a 13-foot longer wingspan (79 feet) than the MQ-9/Predator B, a damage tolerant composite airframe with double the service life (40,000 hours), nearly double the operational endurance (40 hours) and greater payload capacity. Features such as auto takeoff and landing, all-weather capability, airframe de-icing, lightning protection and collision avoidance system are standard, Ames said.
“We’re trying to broaden the awareness that this aircraft is multi-mission. It performs maritime surveillance, disaster and humanitarian assistance, search and rescue, maritime domain awareness to make sure that no one’s violating your exclusive economic zone, pollution detection—all of these things are capabilities of the aircraft,” Ames said. “It’s not just a killer drone.”
The Sky Guardian’s “airline configuration” avionics suite, consisting of TCAS, ADS-B and IFF transponders, protects against midair collisions with other transponder-equipped aircraft; the addition of GA-ASI’s Due Regard radar around 2020 will protect against non-transponding, non-cooperative aircraft and rounds out the “detect and avoid” capability aviation authorities believe UAS must have to routinely operate in civilian airspace and over international waters. Though it is not yet civil-certified for use in unrestricted airspace, GA-ASI says the full detect-and-avoid system, including the Due Regard radar subsystem, is already operating on a “small set” of customer aircraft.
“This Due Regard radar is a significant event because it provides access to non-segregated airspace. It also allows maritime operations,” Ames explained.
Importantly, the Sky Guardian, which GA-ASI has also called the Certifiable Predator B, was built to NATO certification requirements comparable to those for manned aircraft as defined in the STANAG 4671 standardized agreement, and it also complies with UK Defence Standard (DEFSTAN) 00-970. “It’s not only the capability to fly in civil airspace, which is a huge concern and requirement, but it’s also the fact that (nations) are immediately NATO interoperable,” Ames said. “They have the value of deriving synergies in logistics and training and talking tactics with one another. That compatibility and interoperability is a key component of high value all by itself.”
Then British Prime Minister David Cameron in October 2015 revealed his country’s plan to acquire new “Protector” aircraft to replace 11 Royal Air Force MQ-9 Reapers; the type was later identified as the Certifiable Predator B, making the UK its launch customer. The foreign military sale (FMS) comes with direct commercial sale elements between GA-ASI and its customer—the U.S. Air Force—to include airworthiness certification responsibility and contractor logistics support. The commercial sale was concluded; the FMS deal between the U.S. and UK governments was expected to close this summer.
The UK has specified 16 Protectors and expects deliveries from 2019 through 2023, with entry into service targeted for 2021. British plans call for arming the aircraft with the MBDA Brimstone missile and Raytheon UK Paveway IV precision-guided bomb. … truncated article to fit post …