Frost and Sullivan shower Predator with accolades

Longtime readers know that we have not been too complimentary in our coverage of the General Atomics-made Predator UAV, our main complaint being that, much like all other UAVs on the market, the drones crash too much. But ours is not the only opinion, and it is only fair if we share the opposite perspective: Frost & Sullivan this week announced that it had selected General Atomics as the recipient of the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Award for Industry Innovation & Advancement in the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry. “Predator series aircraft have achieved a number of records, including being the first UAS to fire a Hellfire missile during combat and the first to be controlled from a submerged submarine,” said analyst Lindsay Voss. “The USAF flies more Predators than any other unmanned

aircraft and plans to acquire more over the next few years.” In addition, a derivative of Predator called the Sky Warrior Armed Reconnaissance System will be deployed by the Army as early as 2009. Equipped with a certified diesel engine and able to carry four Hellfire missiles, the ER/MP Sky Warrior Program is expected to grow to over 350 craft.