The new Protector drone unveiled on Thursday by the Royal Air Force (RAF) will be an “incredibly important tool” in Britain’s fight against global terrorism, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.
The UK has ordered 16 Protector aircraft from its U.S. manufacturer General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI). They will enter into service in 2024 and will be based at the RAF’s Waddington base in Lincolnshire, England.
Talking to media at the event, Wallace said he believes the terrorist threat has become more global now, as the “reservoir of people who might cross that line into violence is probably greater than it was” before the 9/11 attacks.
He said that NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan could inspire terrorist groups to mount attacks and that Britain has the right to defend itself from such terror plots, The Times of London reported.
He said he is ready to do whatever he has to do “to protect British citizens’ lives and our interests and our allies when we are called upon to do so, wherever that may be.”
He said the Protector drone is not “a silver bullet to deal with terrorism,” but is an “incredibly important tool in our armoury,” The Telegraph reported.
“It can fly further for longer, for many more places around the world, with a much wider range of potential missions from flood monitoring to maritime patrol, to strikes on violent extremists who would do us harm,” he said.
