GA, GKN Aerospace to jointly develop new fuel bladders for the MQ-9B RPA.

GKN Aerospace will work in conjunction with GA-ASI to design and manufacture the fuel bladders at the GKN Aerospace facility in Tallassee, Alabama. The proven engineering process includes a vacuum forming process, coupled with the latest poly-urethane (PU) material, which is extremely durable and lightweight. The new fuel bladder also includes improved rubber fittings to provide better tear resistance.

Vacuum forming allows GKN Aerospace to create fuel bladders in complex shapes that fully exploit all available space on the MQ-9B airframe, maximizing the fuel load capacity and platform endurance. These developments also produce a bladder system with a lower parts count, simplifying manufacture, bladder installation and system support.

Staffan Svensson, vice president of GKN Aerospace Special Products Group said: “We look forward to working with GA-ASI to provide a vital fuel system solution for this long-endurance Predator B platform variant. We have been supplying fuel systems for many decades and for many airframe platforms and MQ-9B fully exploits all our recent advances in both manufacturing and materials technologies.”