Know 10 Facts about Sea Guardian Unarmed Drones

Know 10 Facts about Sea Guardian Unarmed Drones

Media reported that The Trump administration is looking forward to completing the nearly $ 2 billion deal for selling 22 unarmed Sea Guardian drones to India

India is not getting the Reaper, which is an armed aircraft. Instead India is buying the unarmed Guardian Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) which was developed by the US Office of Air and Marine (OAM) in partnership with the US Coast Guard

What is the use of Sea Guardian Drones

Know the important facts about Unarmed Sea Guardian Drones.

1-
The Sea Guardian is a variant of the tested MQ-9 platform which allows for greater interoperability with US and allied forces

2-
The Sea Guardian, a large payload, long-endurance UAS platform is a variant of the Predator UAS system used by the US military and department of homeland security.
The Reaper has been acquired by the US Air Force, US Department of Homeland Security, NASA, the Royal Air Force, the Italian Air Force, the French Air Force and the Spanish Air Force among others.

3-
The unarmed Sea Guardian is designed to provide advanced surveillance capability for maritime and littoral missions — an increasingly important mission for India as it seeks to play a larger role in securing the sea lines of communication in the Indian Ocean.

4-
The Guardian Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) which India is buying is manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. It is the naval variant of the Predator B drone or to call it by its proper name, the MQ-9 Reaper.

5-
The Reaper was the United States Air Force's first hunter-killer UAV. Compared to the old MQ-1 Predator, it is larger and more powerful as it has a 900-horsepower turbo-prop engine, compared to the 119-horsepower Predator engine. It flies at almost three times the Predator's cruise speed.

6-
The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the USAF to indicate their human ground controllers

7-
it has a wingspan of 20 metres and is powered by the Honeywell TPE331-10 powerplant. With a fuel capacity of 1769 kilogrammes, it can attain a maximum altitude of 50,000 feet (15,240 metres) and can cruise for a maximum of 27 hours.

8-
The remotely piloted Guardian allows for missions to be conducted safely in areas that are difficult to access or otherwise considered too high-risk for manned aircraft. This risk-reducing capability makes it critical to personnel safety and mission success.

9-
It can also fly in a completely autonomous mode.

10-
Sea Guardian Drones will help India to monitor the activities of China and Pakistan in sea.

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Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Tags – History Facts Sea Guardian Drones Unarmed India US Sell 22