Elaine Kerr Air Command Secretariat Spitfire Block, Room 2E21-33 Headquarters Air Command High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP14 4UE

Ref: FOI 2020/03095

Mr Tim Street Advocacy and Communications Coordinator Drone Wars UK 19 Paradise Street Oxford OX1 1LD

Email: [email protected] 26 March 2020

Dear Mr Street

Thank you for your email of 3 March 2020. You requested the following information:

I would like to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, copies of the presentations (text of talks as well as power‐point presentations) delivered by the following serving officers:

· Wing Commander Mark Jackson, Officer Commanding 13 Squadron, Royal Air Force on ‘Preparing for Protector: Challenges of developing for Ops, whilst simultaneously Delivering on Ops’ at the Airborne ISR Conference, London, October 23rd - 24th, 2019.

· Wing Commander Judith Graham, RAF Programme Manager: Reaper and Protector on ‘Delivering Next Generation Unmanned Aerial Capabilities to the RAF for 21st Century Air Operations’ at SMi’s UAV Technology conference, London, 30th September - 1st October 2019.I would like to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, copies of the presentations (text of talks as well as power-point presentations) delivered by the following service officers:

I am treating your correspondence as a request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). I have now completed a search of our paper and electronic records and I can confirm that information is held.

A copy of each presentation is attached at Annex A.

Some of the information contained in the presentations falls entirely within the scope of the absolute exemptions provided for at Section 40 (Personal Data) of the Freedom of Information Act had has been redacted.

Section 40(2) has been applied to some of the information in order to protect personal information as governed by the Data Protection Act 2018. Section 40 is an absolute exemption and there is therefore no requirement to consider the public interest in making a decision to withhold the information.

If you are not satisfied with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by contacting the Information Rights Compliance team, 1st Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail [email protected]). Please note that any request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has come to an end.

If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your case until the MOD internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website, http://www.ico.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely

[Original signed]

Elaine Kerr Air DRes Sec 3

PREPARING FOR PROTECTOR

Wing Commander Mark Jackson Officer Commanding XIII Squadron Who am I ?

OC XIII Sqn So what …

• are we preparing for ? • is different ? • will has changed ? • will change? • is next ? What is different ?

• UK Sovereign Capability • 16 Air Vehicles • 7 x Fixed Facility (Advanced Cockpits) • 7 x Synthetic Trg Systems • Strategic facility at RAF Waddington, • 80+ Three-person Crews • 500 personnel • Paveway IV • Brimstone 3A OFFICIAL • Advanced HD Sensors What are we preparing for ? Range Weather RAF Fairford Grand Forks, ND Airspace Location Mass

What is different ? What is different ? Cockpit What is different ?

Hellfire Brimstone Weapons V

GBU 12 PWY IV V What is different ?

Crews What has changed ? WingsWings Recognition Care Pay What will change ? Synthetics LRE Global Ops What is next ? Recruitment Training GrowthGrowth What is next ? … all while on ops ! What is next ? FOC 2025

Start Training 2022 IOC 2023

2019 Questions ?

Wing Commander Mark Jackson Officer Commanding XIII Squadron

Protector RG Mk1

Wing Commander Judith Graham RAF RPAS Programme Manager Scope

• RAF’s Vision for future Unmanned Air Systems • Protector: a next generation asset • Lethality Options • Future Requirments Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston – DSEI - 12 Sep 19 “I am delighted to announce that last month the MOD placed a contract of around £100 million with General Atomics-ASI for the test and evaluation phase of the Protector programme – it is a key milestone towards the delivery of this important next-generation capability. Through the embedding of experienced RAF operators in the programme, we are helping bring a world-leading capability to life. It will provide the RAF with a remotely-piloted air system – equipped with British-designed and built weapons – that can operate worldwide for up to 40 hours.” RAF Vision

• Space • High Altitude Persistent Surveillance aircraft • Protector • ‘Mosquito’ – Project LANCA – Increase Combat Mass for the RAF • Small UAS for Force Protection • Counter-UAS capabilities YBC-01 Transatlantic Flight

RAF Fairford

Grand Forks, ND

Divert 2 Divert 1 Culdrose UK Goose Bay CAN

Flight Details

• Takeoff Date & Location: July 10, 2018, GA-ASI Flight Test Center, Grand Forks, North Dakota (1249 local) • Airspeed & Altitude: Up to 170 knots at 27,000 feet MSL • Flight Time & Distance: 20-22 hours, ~3750 nm (24.2 hrs including to 3 hrs loiter time)(3450 nm) • Remaining Fuel & Range: >2600 lbs, >40% range remaining (Ave fuel burn of 171 lb/hr) • Landing Date & Location: July 11, 2018, RAF Base, Fairford, United Kingdom (1847 local) Protector RG Mk1

• The UK MoD has committed to replace its fleet of 10 x Reaper MQ-9s with 16 x Protector RG Mk1s

• A Capability to provide Deep and Persistent ISTAR and to achieve Effects against defined surface targets in the maritime and land environments

Next Generation: • Designed to be Certifiable from the outset • ‘Advanced Cockpit’ Programme Specifics

• UK Sovereign Capability • 16 Air Vehicles • 7 x Fixed Facility (Advanced Cockpits) • 7 x Synthetic Trg Systems • Strategic facility at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire • 80+ Three-person Crews • 500 personnel • Paveway IV

• Brimstone 3A OFFICIAL • Advanced HD Sensors Milestones

• RAF Crews begin Training early 2022

• Initial Operating Capability: end 2023

• Full Operating Capability by end 2025

OFFICIAL Next Generation Capabilities

• X-Band Skynet & Inmarsat SATCOM • MTS – D (HD imagery) • Datalink Encryption • Lynx Synthetic Aperture Radar /Ground Moving Target • Mission Intelligence Station Indication • Beyond-Line-Of-Sight Taxi • Weapons • Automatic Take-Off & Landing - Brimstone 3A System - Paveway IV Mk2 • Certifiable – in unsegregated airspace Protector System

Based on the GA-ASI MQ-9B SkyGuardian De-icing Global Satelitte coverage (including redundancy) Lightening Protection Long endurance – 40+ hours 79 ft wingspan 9 hard points Advanced Cockpit Lethality Options

“The User requires a capability to destroy or defeat mobile, re-locatable and fixed targets in all weathers, day and night, in hostile, complex, collaterally-constrained environments.” Raytheon Paveway 4

• All weather, LASER, GPS and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) guided 500lb class weapon • Cockpit selectable parameters for: – Impact, – Azimuth and Elevation, – Pulse Repetition Frequency Code – Fuse settings • Common stockpiles with Typhoon & F35 • Capable of Multiple Desired Points of Impact (DPI) in a single pass MBDA Brimstone 3A

• Dual mode seeker • Proven success – especially effective against moving targets • Semi-Active Laser or MilliMetric Wave guidance • Common stockpile with Typhoon • Spiral upgrade to Brimstone 3B bringing additional functionality Primary Sensors

• Raytheon - Multispectral Targeting System-D (AN/DAS-4) – Hi-Definition Electro-Optical and Infra Red Variable Zoom Cameras – Multi-Spectral Capability • General Atomics Lynx SAR (GMTI) • Cat II co-ord capability Future UK Developments

• Detect And Avoid: Current Assessment Phase General Atomics Due Regard Radar

• Maritime Radar - investigating options • Platform Protection – investigating options

• Additional aircraft – Operational demand is high

• UK Military Aid to Civilian Authorities (MACA) – future opportunities for use in UK airspace to support govt agencies

OFFICIAL • Search And Rescue

• International Partners - Belgium Certification & Airspace Integration • First certifiable MALE RPAS • operate in any class of airspace • Able to ‘share’ civilian airspace with manned ac • Standards are still in development for non-segregated airspace, pending ICAO policy

• IOC – operate in UK Airspace by 2023 • Airspace change plan - CAA • Operational safety case – CAA

• FOC – expanded integration by 2025 • Flight in co-operative and non-cooperative environments Questions?

Protector RG Mk1 Video

Wg Cdr Judith Graham RAF RPAS Programme Manager