Defense secretary Michael Fallon on Saturday announced a $125m (£100m) development deal with US arms manufacturer General Atomics under which the UK fleet of armed drones will double.



The maker of the Predator and Reaper drones used widely by the US will provide 10 drones to the Royal Air Force, bringing the fleet from 10 to 20, an increase announced last year by then prime minister David Cameron, as part of the strategic defence review.

The deal will also boost research into imagery and datalinks – communications from the ground with the drones.

Fallon described the deal as a major addition in terms of firepower, imaging and intelligence gathering. For the past two years, the UK’s drone arsenal has been centered on fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

“Britain faces ever evolving threats and we must look at innovative solutions to stay ahead of our enemies,” Fallon said. “Doubling investment in our unmanned air fleet will substantially enhance both the intelligence gathering and firepower of the RAF.”

The drones will be variants of the Reaper, the more advanced version of the Predator. Test flights are slated for 2019 and, pending certification, the drones will be ready for integration into the British fleet in 2021.

The RAF will call the drone Protector instead of Reaper or Predator. It will be armed with the Brimstone 2, a UK-manufactured missile, rather than the Hellfire missile carried by its American cousin. It will also feature an automated takeoff and landing capability.

Fallon, in California for an annual defense conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, said he had met with Boeing, the aerospace giant, to impress upon the company a need to utilize British companies in its supply chain. He was scheduled to meet with another US defense giant, Northrop Grumman, on Sunday.

Fallon sounded highly positive notes about the announced appointment of his US counterpart, the retired US Marine Corps general James Mattis. Mattis, Fallon said, was “thoroughly welcome” to both the UK military and its defense establishment, as a known and trusted entity.

Fallon said his first priorities in working with Mattis would be to sustain “momentum” against Isis in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Reforming Nato, the military alliance President-elect Donald Trump has called “obsolete”, will be a close second.

“That’s not our language, but we agree it needs reform,” Fallon told reporters. He also said he would encourage Mattis to continue the agenda set by the current US defense secretary, Ashton Carter, to push the Pentagon toward greater technical innovation and high-tech weapons purchases.

With much uncertainty in Washington and abroad over Trump’s approach to Iran and the multilateral deal sealed by Barack Obama to block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon, Fallon said the UK would seek to reassure Iran’s neighbors that the provisions of the deal were enforced.

He said the UK was looking to see “what the policy is”, rather than presuming Trump would govern with the incendiary approach that characterized his campaign.

“It matters to us, all your allies, that America remains an outward-looking nation,” Fallon said during a morning panel at the conference, emphasizing transatlantic defense ties.

Unity “sends a powerful message to potential adversaries like President Putin”, he said.