General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has highlighted the capabilities of its MQ-9B SeaGuardian Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) during the recent Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024 exercise, according to a company announcement.
The exercise, the largest international maritime exercise globally, concluded on July 28, 2024, with SeaGuardian logging nearly 100 flight hours in support of operations around the Hawaiian Islands.
The MQ-9B SeaGuardian, which is a maritime variant of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, introduced new features during RIMPAC 2024. These included the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) targeting and a prototype Sonobuoy Dispensing System (SDS) that enhances the UAS’s Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities.
The system was equipped with the SeaVue Multi-role radar from Raytheon, part of RTX, and was capable of deploying and monitoring up to 40 sonobuoys, providing real-time Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) data to U.S. Pacific Fleet Command.
“For RIMPAC, the MQ-9B effectively passed ISR&T information to various surface and air units, such as the Nimitz-class carrier USS Carl Vinson, Guided Missile Destroyers (DDGs), Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), frigates, patrol boats, P-8s, P-3s, and numerous other U.S. and foreign units that took part in the exercise,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander in the announcement.
The SeaGuardian also featured new technologies such as the Link 16 Joint Range Extension Application Protocol (JREAP) “C” and an integrated Minotaur Mission System, which enhanced its capability to deliver sensor data to various Maritime Operations Centers, ships, and aircraft involved in the exercise.
The SeaGuardian self-deployed back to GA-ASI’s Desert Horizon Flight Operations Facility in El Mirage, California, on July 31, 2024, marking the end of its participation in the exercise.
Just what the UK needs to give us a 24/7 overview of our waters, when are we going to purchase them. Surely the 24 promised but only 16 ordered gives the UK scope to purchase the remaining 8 in this version which could be forward deployed in Cornwall and Scotland which would allow the coverage the UK.
I’d say we could go much further than that.
Buy another 16 on top of the 8 you suggest to have 24 SeaGuardians.
That way we can use these for more complete coverage of waters near home while using the P8s forwards deployed as more global coverage.
The endurance on these drones is really good and the option of putting them on the carriers ( by buying say 8 STOL kits for them, and 2 AEW kits) is too good to pass up.
8 & 8 shared between RAF and fleet Air Arm makes perfect sense I would have hoped testing with a Mojave last year would accelerate this and stop the view of carriers without planes. I am surprised we have not worked anything up and then try it out on the PoW tour next year to far east.
Hopefully the MOD is reading “ukdj” and all the useful suggestionsls here! This seems like a very affordable one too!
I don’t thing GA-ASI have actually converted an MQ-9B to STOL configuration yet. They market it as a complement to F35 on smaller carriers (US LHDs, QEs, Japanese carriers) for ASW and sea control while the F35 does the glamourous anti-ship and anti-air stuff, perfect for our limited supply of them.
The “AEW kit” does not actually exist.
Nor does the STOL version itself.
Or Tempest, for that matter.
But GA say it can be done and have produced designs and CAD models for AEW radar pods.
It’s a clear option when considering SeaGuardian and so I included it as one of the possible roles.
No, they’ll need to conduct several years of trials first so they can ‘gain a deeper understanding ‘ and to ‘inform future decisions ‘ and eventually ordering nowhere near enough to ‘continue meeting all operational commitments.’
I thought Protector was a Sky Guardian variant, not Sea Guardian. What radar does Protector have? At one point I thought it was going to be the Seaspray 7500E v2, but that’s large and hard to miss and totally absent from pictures of Protector. It probably has the small inbuilt Lynx SAR, but will it have anything like the large centreline Raytheon/Leonardo options.
Protector doesn’t have a radar pod as standard, but the two have a lot of commonality (SeaGuardian just swaps components and adds new processing for sonobuoys).
Before we get too excited the issue is what are the radar capabilities? Power and receiver surface area are going to be issues?
For dropping sonar buoys it works. For relay of sonar buoy data it works. So tick there. Seems like a very expensive data relay to me.
Dipping sonar – how does that work?
So you end up with quite a lot of a pie but not all of it. How do we backfill the rest? No point in having a fragmented kill chain as it is not a chain.
Hi SB, As you point out a fragmented kill chain is not a kill chain. However, autonomous vehicles are advancing at an incredible pace and I think they will break through into ever wider applications in the not too distant future. So perhaps putting the Kill Chain in place bit by bit is one way to start to fill in the gaps, let face it we have more gap than wall these days… There is a nice article just come out on Navy Lookout about medium sized USV’s, focusing on SEA’s workboats and their possible use in littoral scenarios and… Read more »
The radar they put on it is called Leonardo Seaspray 7500E, an AESA type.
It has a range of 300NM against surface targets and also has a secondary ground mapping and air surveillance capability (basic AEW).
I think for ASW it would probably operate based on cues from a frigate’s long range sonar to set sonobuoys and drop Stingray.
I imagine as an anti surface asset it would also be useful in places like the Pacific, carrying Spear against small missile boats or maybe JSM (not sure what max payload per hard point is)
It is all very well saying 300nm but if that is against a trawler or cruise ship that is totally different to warship that is RCS reduction designed. Never mind something with RAM on the upper areas. Never mind finding a periscope etc…..
Who are supposed to have put a Seaspray radar on? The default centreline radar for MQ-9B is Raytheon’s SeaVue, and that’s what GA deliver for a standard Sea Guardian. Leonardo’s Seaspray is an option. However, the RAF have not specified any centreline radar as we just discussed. The 24 UK Protectors are not optimised for maritime surveillance.
SeaGuardian datasheet says it has the Lynx SAR radar but option for Seaspray.
The type the RAF has already is a Sky guardian with some modifications, so is irrelevant to the equipment fit for a related but different type.
You are right. I misread Angus post and thought people were discussing the use of the MQ-9B we have already ordered.
It only 16 currently on order, as its short of what was initially mentioned. Japan’s Coast Guard have been using one and recently ordered 2 to enhance their coverage so it has to work as they don’t go and purchase wasteful kit. Even modern radars reduce range against modern stealthy warships but they are not invisible and a ships wake can be picked up as can aircrafts, they all leave such.
You’re right, no fixed wing aircraft can operate a dipping sonar. But back in the Cold War when the USN had even more budget than it does now, fixed wing ASW even for carrier groups was definitely a thing, and still today P-8A is intended to support that role without a dipping sonar. What you get in exchange for the dipping sonar is greater endurance and range than a helicopter and fast time on station from point of launch (maybe not for a drone, not sure their top speed compared to Merlin). With these you get surface search radar, sonobuoy… Read more »
Oh, I agree that multiple platforms can cover different facets.
A P8 is idea working with a T23 and a Merlin or two.
Very true, we definitely need P-8As! I see these Sea Guardian (if we were to get them) as an augmentation of that (thin on the ground) fleet, that we could then expand to operate from RAF Akrotiri, even Gib and the ME given that it’s capable of flying in deconflicted airspace. On the longer term, working with GA towards a STOL version that can operate from the QE carriers, and perhaps an AEW fit-out, would be potential expansion of role opportunities. To be honest, I think they have more application than the Protector fleet we are buying; they will have… Read more »
I think the ASW configuration is a sonobuoy dispenser on each of the innermost spots and a torpedo on each just outside that.
The inner 4 are the slightly more capable hard points, along with the Centreline, I think.
I think we can think of this as a “P8 Lite” capability, trading speed for cost and endurance.
Yes, I see it fitting the same role. P-8A are a small fleet, so having some of these too will reduce wear on the airframes, broaden our ability to cover ground/sea in the GIUK gap, but also potentially provide a level of capability in the MEd, Gulf and even South Atlantic without straining the available fleet.
Long term, the potential for STOL kits and AEW could be worked on with GA.
I didn’t realise that it was the inner 4 hard points, so much the better!
If you go onto GA-ASI’s web page for Sea Guardian, there is a download called “multi domain MQ9”. That says that 4 hard points are available for the sonobuoy or other mission pods (among other interesting things).
Yes, I agree that this would be become a long term fleet.
Capabilities could be added as the manpower and development time becomes available for them, and the carrier air wing concept is sufficiently advanced to, for example, replace Crowsnest with an AEW radar pod developed specifically for the role or have the deck handling sorted for operating the drones for maritime patrol.
Weather and climate may dictate what we need . A stormy winters day in the North Atlantic or north sea, Arctic might give different performance to skies over Pacific California or Hawai?
Just what UK needs, buy enough to provide 24/7 coverage if something detected a P8 can responsed to prosecute. would also have 3-4 at both ASI and MPN
People, the MQ-9 will make a piss poor AEW platform, as it can only carry a single X-band radar, even if its an AESA! Unless you have a significant surplus of power and can actively cool the transmit-receive modules (TRMs) that make up the antenna array. You will be limited on detection range due to the atmospheric attenuation X-band suffers from. Yes you can brute force the detection range as per THAADS AN/TPY-2 X-band AESA radar. Which uses a massive power set along with industrial sized cooling to enable it to detect objects in low earth orbit. Plus if the… Read more »
But it looked so good on paper…😢 It wouldn’t have to be an amazing, full fat AEW though, would it? The only requirement is to replace Crowsnest, which is pretty suboptimal anyway. The job is to look down and spot sea skimming missiles below the horizon, rather than the American type naval AWACS. I have only ever found a single image and concept for an MQ9 AEW pod, in the article “an expanding market for AEW&C” from “European security and defence”. It’s a pretty basic CAD model, but shows the general idea. You are, as ever, the final authority on… Read more »