A report by the US Occupation Army cited that “The Sky Warrior, a system larger than the Predator, is operated by Soldiers in Iraq as opposed to being flown remotely from the United States. It has a wing span of 56 feet and is capable of carrying Hellfire missiles.”

The report revealed “Quick Reaction Capability-1, a small unit of 16 Soldiers deployed from Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training Battalion out of Fort Huachuca, Ariz., has spent the past months here putting the new MQ-1C Sky Warrior UAS through numerous tests in a combat environment to help the Army determine the future of the program.”

This aircraft is in its infancy. The aircraft that we have right now on the flight line are the first aircraft produced by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and deployed by the Army," said Blaschke. "All of the aircraft were built during the Development and Testing phase of the acquisition process, which means all the aircraft are prototypes."

According to the report “This is an aircraft that can have different pay loads and it has the capability of actually looking out long distances in order to find the enemy in different ways. Whether it is using the image intelligence, using signal intelligence, using measuring intelligence, this platform can not only find the enemy but will ultimately be able to engage and neutralize the enemy."

“The Sky Warrior also has the capability to point out targets for other aircraft, enabling them to hit their target while the Sky Warrior aims,” said Blaschke noting that “It can guide in a Hellfire from an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter or even Joint Direct Attack Munitions from an F/A-18 Super Hornet, F-16 Fighting Falcon or F-22 Raptor, making a hunter-killer team.”