25 January, 2019: CAE has recieved a contract from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics to develop a complete synthetic training system for the United Kingdom’s Protector RG Mk1 remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) programme.
CAE will be developing and designing a comprehensive synthetic training system that will include desktop and high-fidelity mission trainers specific to the Protector RPAS according to the contract.
Royal Air Force will be operating the protector and it is the UK-specific variant of GA-ASI’s certifiable MQ-9B SkyGuardian RPAS. It can meet with the most stringent certification requirements of aviation authorities.
“MQ-9B SkyGuardian, which Protector is based on, represents the next-generation of remotely piloted aircraft capabilities, including longer endurance and automatic take-off and landing.” said David R. Alexander, president, Aircraft Systems, GA-ASI. “The Protector synthetic training system will play a key role helping the Royal Air Force develop skilled aircrews and we are pleased to collaborate with CAE as our training partner on this critical programme.”
The delivery of the synthetic training system will take place in 2020 to RAF Waddington, the hub of UK Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR). It will be the main operating base for the Protector.
The Protector Mission trainers will be the first simulator developed for the advanced certifiable ground control station (CGCS) and it will be based on GA-ASI’s CGCS. As a part of the overall synthetic training system, CAE will also provide brief/debrief and scenario generation stations.