An expansion of unmanned operations is underway at the Royal Navy airfield, which could soon be used by General Atomics MQ-9 and Leonardo AW09 (Proteus) type aircraft.
Located in the far south-west of the United Kingdom, and only around three miles from mainland Britain’s most southerly point, Predannack Airfield has operated since 1958 as a satellite airfield of nearby Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose. Since the formation of 700X Naval Air Squadron (NAS) at RNAS Culdrose as a specialist remotely piloted air systems (RPAS) unit in 2014, Predannack has supported extensive operational trials of various unmanned aircraft of varying sizes.
Today 700X Naval Air Squadron successfully launched and recovered its new Banshee jet drone at Predannack #Cornwall. This is a first for the @RoyalNavy #700XNAS #modern #ready pic.twitter.com/84l56Fshx5
— RNAS Culdrose (@RNASCuldrose) December 1, 2023
In partnership with Wholeship Limited and the wider Ministry of Defence, the airfield is now home to the National Drone Hub, which offers a facility for unmanned aircraft development by government, commercial, and educational customers. Planning documents from the second half of 2024 reveal a significant move to expand the facilities available.
Current hangar facilities, approved for construction in 2022, comprise one 70.2 square meter and one 47.2 square meter hangar. Under newly approved plans, these will be supplemented by an additional 47.2 square meter box hangar alongside two new 485.8 square meter hangars – designated Alpha hangar and Beta hangar.
As illustrated by computer renderings, the hangars will be of a sufficient size to house aircraft of a size up to and including an MQ-9 Reaper. Noise impact assessments conducted for the planning application also make direct reference to this type: “The expansion includes the testing of AW09 Leonardo UAS helicopters, MQ9 drones, and the current operation of eVTOL aircraft.” The assessed noise impact of the new development is minimal, as all proposed platforms generate significantly less noise than the AW101 Merlin helicopters which already use Predannack as a relief landing ground and training area.
The mention of an AW09 UAS from Leonardo refers to the Proteus unmanned helicopter demonstrator under construction for the Royal Navy. Given the helicopter’s maritime role, Predannack’s proximity to the coast and various training areas already used by Royal Navy ships and aircraft would make it an excellent choice for operational flight testing. The eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft mention likely refers to the existing array of quadcopter-type UAVs currently utilized by 700X NAS, as well as by commercial operators.
700X NAS has tested commercially available eVTOL platforms like those sold by DJI as well as military specific and bespoke vehicles. A 20 kilogram eVTOL nicknamed ‘Walrus’ was designed and constructed from scratch by squadron personnel in 2022.
Commercial customers have already used the airfield for their own eVTOL trials work. This includes Gravitilab, who have developed LOUIS, a pod dropped from a UAS platform that can be used for affordable microgravity experiments.
The Royal Navy does not currently operate any systems in the class of the MQ-9 Reaper, but the aircraft type is currently operated by the Royal Air Force in the standard MQ-9A Reaper guise as well as the MQ-9B Protector RG1. With the latter being based directly in the UK at RAF Waddington, it would be possible for the aircraft type to detach to Predannack for potential future trials work.
Future Royal Navy acquisition plans, which might involve similar aircraft like the General Atomics Mojave, could also be facilitated. Predannack Airfield already supported drone trials with HMS Prince of Wales in 2023 when a Windracers Ultra UAS flew from the base and landed on the aircraft carrier, which was sailing in waters just off the Lizard Point approximately 4-5 miles south of the base.
Airspace Control
Unmanned operations from Predannack take advantage of specially designated airspace which allows for UAS operations beyond visual lines of sight (BVLOS). New danger areas were instituted by the UK Civilian Aviation Authority in 2019 encompassing Predannack Airfield and providing a corridor connecting to the existing Falmouth Bay and Plymouth areas, which in some cases can extend as high as 55,000 feet.
In all, this allows for over 5500 square kilometers of segregated UAS operating area, which can be activated in segments by Notice to Aviation (NOTAM) for the period where operations will take place. RNAS Culdrose still maintains official control over Predannack’s airspace, and Predannack’s main air traffic control service is provided by RNAS Culdrose. Until 2021, this was conducted by having air traffic control officers from RNAS Culdrose drive the short distance to Predannack and physically staff the control tower. However, new technology has allowed the airfield to be controlled remotely from RNAS Culdrose using tower-mounted cameras.
The modification to the danger area complex comprised the addition of areas D005A, a three nautical mile circle around Predannack Airfield, D005B, extending out to sea south and west of the Lizard Peninsula, and D006C, a box to the south east of the Lizard Peninsula. Area D006B existed previously, covering the current area as well as the area now designated D006C, but previously only extending as high as 1500 feet. It has now been modified to extend to 8000 feet, which is matched by all of the new areas.
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Under current UK airspace rules, BVLOS UAS operations cannot normally share the same airspace as manned aircraft. Dividing the existing D006B into D006B and D006C was intended to allow more flexibility in airspace use, as the airspace only needs to be restricted when operations are presently ongoing inside it. The D006 areas are managed by air traffic controllers from Plymouth Military Radar, while the D005 areas are the responsibility of RNAS Culdrose’s approach controller.
Letters of Agreement (LoA) are in place with airspace users HM Coastguard and Flag Officer Sea Training to establish procedures for managing the use of the airspace, and in the case of HM Coastguard coordinate measures to allow for unimpeded search and rescue operations when required. Interestingly, HM Coastguard is developing a UAS capability of its own with the Schiebel Camcopter S-100. The Camcopter design has undertaken trials with the Royal Navy’s 700X NAS under the name Peregrine.
SADIE
One interesting capability that has already been demonstrated by Wholeship Ltd at the National Drone Hub is SADIE, or Ship-Air Digital Integration Equipment. Appearing essentially as a vehicle trailer with a helicopter landing platform, SADIE is in fact a complex system that can replicate the rolling landing deck of a ship at sea with 6 axis movement. This type of facility would be vital for developing larger VTOL aircraft intended for deployment at sea, like Proteus.
A similar, larger tilting deck exists at MoD Boscombe Down, and was used for the development of the Lynx and Merlin helicopters, though its present operational status is unclear. Unlike SADIE, the Boscombe Down deck is a stationary platform. Given modern developments in computer technology, it’s likely that SADIE can offer a more minutely programmable and realistic simulation.
History of Predannack
Predannack, a name which is thought to stem from the Ancient Greek ‘Pretannike’, which they used to describe the landmass now known as Britain, has been home to an airfield since May 1941. RAF Predannack was constructed rapidly for use during the Second World War along with other nearby airfields like RAF Portreath and RAF Perranporth after Luftwaffe raids on Cornwall became frequent occurrences, largely unimpeded due to a lack of fighter bases in the region.
Initially, the airfield was home to fighter units operating the Hawker Hurricane. They were later reinforced by Bristol Beaufighters, which were radar equipped and suited for nighttime interceptions. The nearby port of Falmouth, as well as Chain Home radar stations like RAF Dry Tree, were particular targets of interest to the Luftwaffe and hence were in regular need of defending.
As the tide of the war turned against Germany, Predannack’s location provided a base for offensive counter aircraft patrols over France, as well as maritime attack and anti-submarine sorties by B-24 Liberators, Westland Whirlwinds, Vickers Wellingtons, and de Havilland Mosquitos. Aircraft operating for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) also utilized Predannack as a stop-over point enroute to clandestine missions over France, dropping off and collecting agents and supplies for the French Resistance.
Mosquito NFII W4092 RS-T of 157 Sqn RAF from Predannack Cornwall is inspected by airmen of 8th USAAF at Bassingbourn pic.twitter.com/EhYZtnyk1x
— The Peoples Mosquito (@PeoplesMosquito) April 21, 2014
RAF Predannack also offered a safe haven for damaged aircraft returning from operations over Europe. 15 B-17s of the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) recovered to the airfield in May 1943 after facing heavy anti-aircraft fire over St Nazaire. Some of these aircraft were so damaged that they never took off again.
Briefly mothballed following the end of the Second World War, in 1952 Predannack became home to a development project by the aircraft manufacturer Vickers. Vickers designer Barnes Wallis, who had developed the Wellington bomber’s geodetic structure, as well as the Bouncing Bomb, and the Tallboy and Grand Slam earthquake bombs, was turning his attention to the concept of variable geometry aircraft. His Wild Goose and Swallow swing wing models were launched using a rocket sled track constructed alongside one of the airfield’s runways.
Neither the Wild Goose or Swallow were ever developed into the full size aircraft that Wallis envisioned, but a subsequent joint study with NASA eventually informed the development of the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark. Wallis’ approach to the swing wing’s pivot mechanism proved more practical than those which had been previously studied by American aircraft designers.
This 1958 edition of the Royal Air Force Flying Review makes the case of the advanced ‘swing wing’ concept ‘Swallow’ aircraft, from the drawing board of Sir Barnes Wallis at Vickers Armstrong. Envisioned as a V-Bomber replacement, if got no further than a wind tunnel model! 😞 pic.twitter.com/ThdroF08EX
— Trev Clark’s Obscure Aviation History 🚁 (@clark_aviation) August 30, 2020
Predannack Airfield was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1958, becoming a satellite station of RNAS Culdrose which had been completed following the Second World War. It would provide a relief landing ground primarily for Culdrose’s helicopters, and would also become home to a number of aircraft wrecks used for firefighter training. Most of these have today been removed and replaced by bespoke training aids, partially because the presence of ‘abandoned’ aircraft drew frequent attention from trespassers.
