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DSEI 2021: RAF says Protector financial troubles a thing of the past

10th September 2021 - 11:15 GMT | by Tim Martin in RAF Waddington, Lincoln

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An MQ-9B SeaGuardian takes flight (Photo:GA-ASI)

The RAF claims that cost increases associated with the MQ-9B Protector are 'behind us now'.

Air Chf Mshl Sir Mike Wigston, Chief of the Air Staff, has suggested the financial difficulties which have consistently dogged the RAF’s MQ-9B SkyGuardian (Protector) MALE UAV programme are over.

During an MQ-9B SeaGuardian flight test demonstration held at RAF Waddington on 9 September, Wigston told Shephard that cost increases for Protector, which shot up by 74% between initial cost evaluation and year of acquisition approval, according to the National Audit Office, are ‘behind us now’.

He strongly defended the acquisition, adding that he had ‘absolute confidence’ in reaching IOC in early 2024 after first deliveries to RAF Waddington in

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