# Kinematic Threat Brief

**LRRK Watch / Open-Source Intelligence** — Five current signals across systems that sense, move, and act.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Collection cutoff | 31 July 2018 |
| Platform | Quiet Systems |
| Data label | Open-source intelligence // LRRK analytic product |
| Handling | Public-source material. Image rights require separate verification before publication. |

## Executive read

### BLUF

July moved unmanned Act across an ocean under civil registration: an MQ-9B SkyGuardian flew Grand Forks to RAF Fairford in 24 hours 2 minutes on 10–11 July — the first fetched trans-Atlantic MALE RPA crossing — while DoD's COTS UAS freeze and the Army DJI ban still govern small Sense.

### Key judgments

1. **[Assessment — high confidence]** GA-ASI and BBC both record the company-owned MQ-9B SkyGuardian landing at RAF Fairford at 18:51 BST on 11 July after a 3,760-nautical-mile flight from Grand Forks, North Dakota, piloted from the United States.
2. **[Assessment — high confidence]** The aircraft is presented as a STANAG 4671-oriented, type-certifiable MQ-9B (RAF name PROTECTOR RG Mk1) intended for non-segregated airspace, not as a weapons-release event.
3. **[Inference — moderate confidence]** The trust change is civil-airspace Detect-and-Avoid plus SATCOM C2 over an ocean — a Control Fabric the COTS freeze does not touch, and that airport C-UAS (still untested at Gatwick scale) does not cover.

### 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

## 01. SkyGuardian — first trans-Atlantic MALE RPA

*Event / publication dates: takeoff 10 July 2018; landing 11 July 2018; GA-ASI and BBC 11 July 2018*

**Verified record — [Fact — A1/B1]** GA-ASI: MQ-9B SkyGuardian landed at RAF Fairford at 6:51 p.m. (GMT+1) on 11 July; departed Grand Forks 12:48 p.m. CDT 10 July; 3,760 nm in 24 hours 2 minutes; first MALE RPA trans-Atlantic flight; static display at RIAT 13–15 July for RAF100; RAF configuration to be PROTECTOR RG Mk1. BBC: "first ever civilian-registered flight across the Atlantic by a remotely piloted aircraft"; operator located in America; 79-foot wingspan; endurance "over 40 hours." Fetched: https://www.ga-asi.com/ga-asi-skyguardian-completes-first-trans-atlantic-flight-of-a-male-rpa and https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-44793344

**Threat landscape.** Oceanic SATCOM C2 of a 79-foot unmanned aircraft in civil airspace. Trust boundary is lost-link over water, Detect-and-Avoid, and the civil registration path — not Hellfire.

**Intelligence assessment.** [Assessment — high confidence] The crossing occurred as dated. [Inference — moderate confidence] The demo is as much a UK PROTECTOR industrial-political event as a technical one. [Uncertainty] In-flight contingency and ATC handoff details not in the fetched releases.

**Opportunity.** UK CAA/MAA crossing authorization text.

**LRRK relevance.** Control Fabric / Campaign / Sense-Move-Act. Passport: YBC-class MQ-9B, Grand Forks–Fairford, 10–11 July, 24h02, civil-registered, PROTECTOR name.

**Confidence.** High on the flight; moderate on the certification residual.

## 02. COTS freeze still the small-UAS military rule

*Event / publication dates: IG 14 May; memo public 7 June; no July lift fetched*

**Verified record — [Fact — B1]** The sUAS News memo text — suspend COTS UAS purchase and use until a cyber-risk strategy and mitigations exist — is unretracted in July fetches. Fetched: https://www.suasnews.com/2018/06/us-dod-pulls-the-plug-on-cots-drones/

**Threat landscape.** Large certified RPA may cross the Atlantic; a DJI-class quad still cannot be purchased for DoD operational use on the fetched memo.

**Intelligence assessment.** [Assessment — high confidence] Freeze stands. [Inference — moderate confidence] The split (trusted MALE vs untrusted COTS) will define the next two years of Passport work. [Uncertainty] July exemptions not fetched.

**Opportunity.** First "blue UAS" list.

**LRRK relevance.** Control Fabric / Passport.

**Confidence.** High.

## 03. Army DJI cease-use still nested inside the freeze

*Event / publication dates: 2 August 2017; still governing DJI-specifically*

**Verified record — [Fact — B1]** Defense One's Anderson memo (cease use, uninstall apps, pull media) remains the DJI-specific ancestor. Fetched: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2017/08/us-army-just-ordered-soldiers-stop-using-drones-chinas-dji/139999/

**Threat landscape.** New commercial SKUs do not create a July exemption.

**Intelligence assessment.** [Assessment — high confidence] DJI still banned at Army and now covered again as COTS. [Uncertainty] July residual storage locations not fetched.

**Opportunity.** An Army disposal or substitution notice.

**LRRK relevance.** Passport / Watch.

**Confidence.** High.

## 04. Triton Guam-by-December — still a plan in July

*Event / publication dates: 10 April 2018 USNI/NAVAIR*

**Verified record — [Fact — B1]** First operational MQ-4C Tritons still publicly aimed at Guam by end-2018. No July mishap primary fetched. Fetched: https://news.usni.org/2018/04/10/navy-first-operational-mq-4c-tritons-will-deploy-guam-years-end

**Threat landscape.** A second HALE type (Triton, not SkyGuardian) is on a Western Pacific clock.

**Intelligence assessment.** [Assessment — high confidence] Plan unretracted. [Uncertainty] July test tempo not fetched.

**Opportunity.** NAVAIR mid-summer Triton note.

**LRRK relevance.** Campaign / Watch.

**Confidence.** High on the plan.

## 05. MQ-25 and Sea Hunter — pre-award / pre-IOC continuity

*Event / publication dates: Sea Hunter 30 January 2018; MQ-25 award 30 August 2018 (not July)*

**Verified record — [Fact — A1]** DARPA–ONR Sea Hunter transfer stands. No July MQ-25 award fetched. Fetched: https://www.darpa.mil/news/2018/sea-hunter-prototype

**Threat landscape.** Carrier unmanned tanker and medium USV remain calendar items beside a completed oceanic MALE demo.

**Intelligence assessment.** [Assessment — high confidence] No July award/IOC. [Uncertainty] July source-selection status not fetched.

**Opportunity.** The August MQ-25 contract notice.

**LRRK relevance.** Watch / Lab.

**Confidence.** High on the negatives.

## Forward indicators

Ranked watchlist as of the collection cutoff (what a Watch desk would have monitored next).

1. MQ-25 award and whether the winner flew a full-scale demonstrator.
2. Any August COTS-UAS political Act (cheap quad + explosive).
3. Triton Guam bed-down vs schedule risk.
4. FAA Reauthorization UAS title (Remote ID, recreational rewrite).
5. First DoD COTS exemption naming an approved type.

> **Collection integrity.** SkyGuardian from GA-ASI and BBC pages actually fetched 11 July. COTS freeze, Army DJI, Triton April plan, Sea Hunter January notice from pages actually fetched. August Venezuela and August MQ-25 were not used as July Facts. No Shahed or Bayraktar July 2018 primary was fetched and none is invented.

*LRRK — security assurance for systems that sense, move, and act.*

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