As promised.
The following is a summarized extract from respected sources:
https://www.forces.net/news/raf-protector-what-aircraft-and-what-can-it-dohttps://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/mod-signs-65m-contract-for-protector-aircraft/The RAF is to have 16 of the aircraft, which uses a design built on the existing General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drone system. The Protector RG (Reconnaissance Ground attack) Mk1, the British and RAF specific variant of the MQ-9B drone system, is designed to reach heights of 40,000 feet with a payload of up to 4,800lbs (2,177kg).
It is due to enter service by mid-2024 and will be capable of being flown anywhere in the world while being operated by personnel located at its Lincolnshire home base.
The UK's first Protector RG Mk1 aircraft completed its inaugural flight in September 2020, taking to the skies in the US for its first round of test flights. The new aircraft are advanced Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS). It should [will] enhance armed Intelligence, Surveillance, Targeting and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities. It will also be the first RPAS to be designed, built and certified, against stringent NATO and UK safety certification standards equivalent to manned aircraft, allowing it to operate in civilian airspace, according to the RAF.
The Protector RG Mk 1 will be fitted with the battle proven Brimstone missile and laser-guided Paveway bomb systems and will use onboard sensors to avoid other aircraft. There are seven weapons stations on the drone, meaning a total of 21 Brimstone missiles could be carried. This means a significant uplift over the previously used Reaper, which could only carry four Hellfire missiles or two 500-pound laser-guided bombs.
Protector can fly consistently for up to 40 hours and will be deployed across a full spectrum of operations. The fleet will also have advanced anti-icing and lightning protection, providing the RAF with the flexibility to operate in adverse weather conditions.
The following pictures were taken by me when 'Droney boy' (local nickname) was being flown for a photoshoot over RAF Waddington. I tracked it on Flightradar24 as it flew out across the North Sea to the Dutch airbase at Leeuwarden in the morning and decided to chance my luck on its return to RAF Waddington. Heck, did I strike it lucky, watching three passes of the heliborne photoshoot, on the outskirts of Waddington. Result!
Camera-ship AS355 Squirrel and the Protector
Short finals into RAF Waddington
Note the RAF specific maritime Radar under the fuselage and the retractable undercarriage
Crossing the runway threshold