General Atomics To Supply Predator Drones To UAE

General Atomics will sell an unarmed version of its Predator unmanned system to the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the Middle East as part of a plan to boost international sales, a company vice president was quoted as saying.

The Predator XP, is equipped with radar and sensors to offer wide-area surveillance but not weapon systems such as laser-guided bombs or air-to-ground missiles, according to Christopher Ames, director of international strategic development for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. 

The design gives it a different type of missile classification that means it can be sold directly to foreign customers and outside of the federal government’s foreign military sale process, Ames said.

“It opens up a whole range of new markets that had been previously closed,” he said in an interview with Military​.com at the Paris Air Show. “Allies and coalition members were saying, ‘When do we get our Predator?’”

While the international market place is becoming increasingly congested with unmanned products, the company’s systems are “of a very high pedigree” and remain popular, Ames said.

The company sees increasing demand in Europe for the Predator B and in the Asia-Pacific region for a maritime version of the craft, he said. It also expects the U.S. Air Force to buy more of the jet-powered Predator C, which can fly at speeds of up to 400 knots, compared with a top speed of 240 knots for its other types of craft, he said.