Predator C Avenger
Country: 
United StatesManufacturer: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)
General Atomics' Predator C Avenger is the stealth-jet evolution of the Predator family: PW545B turbofan, shielded dorsal air intake, internal weapons bay and low-observable configuration to operate in contested airspace at twice the speed of the MQ-9 Reaper.
General Atomics' Predator C Avenger is the stealth-jet evolution of the Predator family: PW545B turbofan, shielded dorsal air intake, internal weapons bay and low-observable configuration to operate in contested airspace at twice the speed of the MQ-9 Reaper.
Community
Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- Predator C Avenger
- Alias
- General Atomics Avenger / Avenger ER
- Manufacturer
- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)
- Country
- United States
- Year
- 2009
- Category
- UCAV (Combat UAV)
- Class
- MALE (Medium-altitude / long-endurance)
- Status
- In service
Performance
- Range
- 2900 km
- Endurance
- 18 h (20 h ER)
- Top speed
- 740 km/h
- Service ceiling
- 15,240 m
- Propulsion
- Turbofan Pratt & Whitney PW545B, 17,8 kN
Physical characteristics
- MTOW
- 8255 kg
- Payload
- 2950 kg
- Weapons
- Stiva interna + 6 piloni: GBU-12/38/39, AGM-114 Hellfire, JDAM
Onboard systems
- Sensors
- Lynx SAR/GMTI, EO/IR MTS-B, SIGINT, capacità low-observable
- Datalink / control
- SATCOM Ku-band + LOS C-band, integrazione MQ-9
- Launch
- Decollo da pista
- Recovery
- Atterraggio su pista (gancio per portaerei testato)
Combat use
- ▸First flight at Palmdale (April 2009)
- ▸USAF/CIA acquisition in limited numbers as a testbed
- ▸Skyborg AI autonomy trials (2020-)
- ▸Avenger ER variant (2016) — 20 h endurance
Tags
Main operators
History
First flight in April 2009 at Palmdale (California). The 2016 Avenger ER variant extends the wingspan to 23 m, pushing endurance to 20 hours.
Bought in limited numbers by USAF and CIA as a stealth UCAV testbed; in 2022 selected as the platform for the Legion Pod sensor and for advanced autonomy trials.
On the development side, the General Atomics Predator C Avenger is the stealth, jet-powered evolution of the Predator family: a Pratt & Whitney PW545B turbofan hidden in a dorsal S-duct intake, internal weapons bay and low-observable shaping to reduce RCS compared with the MQ-9 Reaper.
On the contested-airspace front, the Avenger is GA-ASI's testbed for next-generation penetrating UCAVs: it has flown in the Avenger ER version (2016) with a 23 m wingspan and has been selected for the USAF Skyborg AI program and for trials of the Legion Pod IRST sensor.
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