# Kinematic Capability Profile **LRRK Watch / Nation-state actor profile** — STIX 2.1 threat-actor fields applied to systems that sense, move, and act. | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Collection cutoff | 16 June 2025 | | Platform | Quiet Systems | | Data label | Open-source intelligence // LRRK analytic product | | Handling | Public-source material. Image rights require separate verification before publication. | | Actor | United Kingdom | | Short name | GB | | UN membership | Member | | Profile depth | documented | ## Executive read ### BLUF The RAF has entered a certified MQ-9B-based Protector RG Mk1 into service as the UK's first remotely piloted air system authorised for UK airspace, replacing Reaper on the Sense/Act path while remaining short of formal IOC on later parliamentary answers not used as the cutoff source. ### Key judgments 1. **[Assessment — High confidence]** RAF announced Protector RG Mk1 entered service on 16 June 2025 after test and evaluation by 56 Squadron, with 31 Squadron support, and a Waddington–Marham flight in UK airspace (RAF). 2. **[Fact]** Protector is based on GA-ASI MQ-9B SkyGuardian, with UK weapons path (Brimstone 3A, Paveway IV) described on the RAF aircraft page. 3. **[Uncertainty]** Project Corvus / Tekever AR5 as Watchkeeper replacement was widely reported in 2026 but those pages were not fetched for this filing and the types are unnamed here. ### Analytic labels - **Fact** — verified reporting or primary record - **Assessment** — analytic judgment - **Inference** — reasoned but not directly observed - **Uncertainty** — unresolved information gap ### Source grades - **A1** — authoritative primary record / directly confirmed - **B1–B2** — generally reliable and corroborated - **C3** — useful but requires caution ## Identity STIX 2.1 Identity + Threat Actor. Values from the open vocabularies only. | STIX field | Value | | --- | --- | | name | United Kingdom | | aliases | UK; Britain; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | | identity_class | organization | | threat_actor_types | nation-state | | roles | director, sponsor | | resource_level | nation-state | | sophistication | advanced | | primary_motivation | organizational-gain | | secondary_motivations | dominance | | goals | Certified RPAS in UK and allied airspace; ISTAR and strike interoperable with NATO and the United States | ## Intent and targeting **[Fact]** RAF: Protector supports surveillance, search and rescue, and armed operations alongside NATO and U.S. forces; potential MACA, maritime surveillance, and SAR. Based at RAF Waddington with UK-remote operation and up to two additional global locations. Named theatre in the GA-ASI/FOI cluster includes Operation SHADER — the FOI PDF was fetched in search but the RAF entry-into-service page is the cutoff source; SHADER employment is **Uncertainty** unless taken from the RAF page (it is not). ## Capability — Sense **[Fact]** RAF aircraft page: sensors for full-motion video, infrared, SAR, and ground target tracking; endurance over 40 hours on that page / over 30 hours and 40,000 ft on the entry-into-service story. First certified RPAS authorised to fly in UK airspace. ## Capability — Move **[Fact]** First air vehicle delivered September 2023; four AVs in the UK and six in the USA for test as of 16 June 2025; all expected deliveries in 2025. Certifiable Ground Control Stations and simulators installed at Waddington. Transition from Reaper planned later in 2025. ## Capability — Act **[Fact]** RAF lists MBDA Brimstone 3A and Raytheon UK Paveway IV as UK-specific weapon payloads. Status: designed and in service as an armed-capable RPAS. No employment how-to. ## Inventory | Domain | Status | Named systems (sourced) | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Air UAS | documented | Protector RG Mk1 (MQ-9B SkyGuardian); Reaper (legacy, in transition) | Watchkeeper / AR5 not named — pages not fetched. | | Surface USV | not established | | | | Subsurface UUV / ROV | not established | | | | C-UAS | not established | | | ## Industrial base and supply chain **[Fact]** GA-ASI air vehicle; RAF/MDE UK payload and certification path (Military Type Certificate noted on GA-ASI Protector page, fetched). Passport is STANAG 4671 / UK DEF STAN 00-970 certification — the Control Fabric that lets Protector fly in civil airspace. ## Observed employment **[Fact]** UK airspace test and evaluation, including Waddington to Marham. Overseas operational employment is not established on the 16 June 2025 RAF page. ## Relationships - `attributed-to` United Kingdom (Identity, `organization`) - `uses` GA-ASI Protector / MQ-9B - `related-to` United States as OEM and interoperability partner - `related-to` NATO as the stated tactical-interoperability object ## LRRK turn-back Sense and Act sit on Protector. Passport is the civil-airspace certificate. Watch should treat IOC declaration (later parliamentary answers) as a separate indicator not used as cutoff. No Campaign object on the fetched RAF page. ## Forward indicators Raise: fetched MoD IOC date; a fetched Corvus/AR5 contract page that would fill the Army ISTAR gap. Lower: further IOC slip without operational flying. Reclassify USV when a Royal Navy uncrewed type is fetched. ## Sources 1. Royal Air Force, 16 June 2025, https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/protector-enters-service-with-royal-air-force/ — A1 2. Royal Air Force, Protector RG Mk 1 aircraft page, https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/current-aircraft/protector-rg-mk-1-mq-9b11/ — A1 3. GA-ASI, Protector RG Mk1, https://www.ga-asi.com/protector-rg-mk1/ — A1 > **Collection integrity.** FlightGlobal/Janes Corvus and UK Defence Journal IOC answers were not fetched. Watchkeeper replacement and RN USVs remain gaps. Collection cutoff is the RAF entry-into-service date, not later unfetched parliamentary answers. *LRRK — security assurance for systems that sense, move, and act.*

L-CGe