Activity visible on flight tracking websites reveals that the Royal Air Force’s MQ-9B Protector RG1 has been deployed to RAF Akrotiri as the type steps up operations to replace the now retired MQ-9A Reaper.
At least two Protector RG1s have reportedly been deployed to RAF Akrotiri – a UK base within one of the small bits of British territory on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus – and have begun flight operations over the Mediterranean Sea. The first aircraft was documented by enthusiasts using popular flight tracking websites on October 15, 2025, with a subsequent follow-up flight on October 16.
This airframe, PR010, had previously flown from RAF Waddington in the UK and its identity had subsequently been registered, allowing it to be displayed with full information.
MNSTR31 – PR010 – 43C972 https://t.co/IaxjcI2nVB pic.twitter.com/DeQxrIBh51
— Pierre Davide Borrelli (@PierreDavideB) October 16, 2025
On 18 October, another flight, using the callsign ASCOT 7331 (RRR7331), was observed operating over the Mediterranean Sea south of Cyprus at about 25,000 feet or so. The aircraft is shown without type information or registration on sites such as ADS-B Exchange and Flightradar24.com, but this is common for newly delivered aircraft. Instead of transmitting this data itself, the aircraft transmits a six-character alphanumeric code, known as the Mode S address or, more colloquially, hexadecimal code, which in theory acts as a unique identifier for the airframe. In many cases, these codes are assigned in consecutive blocks, allowing informed speculation about correct binding.
The runway was first detected around 0355 UTC, and the aircraft was tracked returning to RAF Akrotiri just before 1300 UTC on 18 October 2025. It used Mode S address 43C973, while the other airframe, which was shown with full information, used 43C972. Therefore, we can assume with a reasonable degree of confidence that ASCOT 7331 was the Protector RG1 PR011 airframe.
RRR7331 #RAF #UAV active south of #Cyprus. 1034z pic.twitter.com/6xOdkleA5X
— nde (@5472_nde) October 18, 2025
As far as is publicly known, these flights are the first by the RAF Protector RG1 outside UK or US airspace. Last month it had already been announced that preparations were underway for the first operational deployment of the type. At the time it was unclear how long the RAF’s older fleet of MQ-9A Reapers had been in service, but with the most recent news that the MQ-9A was retired on 30 September, the need for rapid deployment of Protector to frontline duties became very apparent.
The mission flight routes suggest that the aircraft are primarily engaged in testing and training, using the dangerous areas over the seas south of Cyprus, much as the British Army’s Watchkeeper previously did. The RAF’s Reaper fleet operational sorties were never known to have been launched from Akrotiri, but instead flew from Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait, although it hosts the RAF’s permanent Typhoon FGR4 detachment in Operation Shader.
Some suggestions have been made online that the Protector’s operations are linked to monitoring Israel and, specifically, Gaza. At least part of the October 18 departure involved a flight to this area, before turning around and returning to Cyprus. It would have been possible for the plane’s sensors, from altitude, to look toward Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, but the plane remained quite distant from Gaza and it is questionable how much value could have been gained from such a short intelligence-gathering window. Instead, it is most likely that the flight path to Israel was intended to mimic what could be a potential flight path for future operational missions, following a route similar to that frequently used by RAF Typhoons to get to and from operational areas over Iraq and Syria.
#RAF Operation #shadow package heading to another mission. Tanker support + Typhoon(s) 0803z pic.twitter.com/VfJhN14TuC
— nde (@5472_nde) April 10, 2025
The RAF has controversially carried out surveillance flights over Gaza since October 2023, which the UK government says are primarily tasked with locating hostages held by Hamas. Following the recent ceasefire agreement, these the missions are over.
The RG1 Protector
The most notable difference for the Protector RG1, which replaces the RAF’s struggling Reaper fleet, is its clearance by UK authorities to operate in non-segregated airspace. This has allowed the aircraft to fly directly from RAF Waddington and operate in UK skies, which never happened with the Reaper.
Protector carries a base ISR payload similar to that of the Reaper, complete with an integrated electro-optical/infrared camera turret and multi-mode radar. In theory, Protector can also carry additional ISR payloads frequently carried by the Reaper, along with new payloads in development that could see the Protector used for airborne early warning (AEW) and maritime patrol missions.
In service in the United Kingdom, the Protector will be able to use weapons such as the Paveway IV precision guided bomb and the Brimstone missile, both widely used within the RAF’s air-to-surface weapons inventory. The Reapers instead relied on Hellfire missiles and Paveway II bombs, neither of which saw current use on other RAF types. This greatly simplifies the Protector’s potential logistics chain and would make placing it alongside the Typhoons in, say, Akrotiri, a much easier prospect.
The RAF has commissioned 16 protectors and at least 10 are active in the RAF or the US for testing and evaluation purposes. Full operational capability for the new type is expected to be declared in 2026, and this initial deployment is likely one of the requirements that must have been met before that milestone.
Reaper at Waddington
An official retirement ceremony for the MQ-9A Reaper was held at RAF Waddington with Honorary Air Commodore Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, as a VIP guest. However, published images of this ceremony showed something very interesting: an RAF MQ-9A Reaper on UK soil. The fuselage is strikingly displayed with its cheek mounted ISR antennasa modification that began appearing in many of the official images of the RAF Reaper a few years ago.
As mentioned above, RAF Reapers were unable to operate normally from UK airfields and as such spent their entire service career overseas. The fuselages may have landed on UK soil between operations, although they would have been in their air-transportable boxes in a disassembled state.
The fuselage that will be displayed during the ceremony appears to be ZZ202. No information has been provided regarding the future of the RAF’s Reaper airframes. If at least some of them have been moved back to the UK, there is not only the chance that they will be placed in reserve, but also the chance that at least one will find its way to a museum. Both the Imperial War Museum in Duxford and the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon, London, have MQ-1 Predators in their collection, on loan from the United States. An example of an RAF MQ-9 would certainly be a popular piece as well as a tool to showcase recent operations and the most modern capabilities of the RAF.
