General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business and the Air National Guard have jointly tested the capability of the MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle to enable global coverage and connectivity from low Earth orbit satellite communication systems. The remotely piloted aircraft demonstrated its LEO satcom command and control capabilities during flight tests held at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business has secured a $75 million contract to help the U.S. Army sustain its fleet of Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft systems. The company will provide logistics support for the sustainment of the Gray Eagle Block 0 system under the sole source contract, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.  The CLS contract […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business received a $65.5 million order to supply and install ground control stations and supporting unmanned air vehicle equipment to the U.S. Navy. The contract also includes purchasing equipment to support operations of the MQ-9A Block 5 Reaper drones used by the Marine Corps, the Department of Defense said Friday. Earlier […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business completed a test showing the effectiveness of laser communication in relaying network data at low probability of intercept and low probability of detection. The demonstration, which involved ground, mobile and airborne lasercomm terminals, was conducted at the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic in Charleston, South Carolina, and is intended for […] More

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. worked with Lockheed Martin and Tactical Air Support in a joint effort to conduct a flight demonstration of multi-platform infrared sensing. The test flight was carried out using GA-ASI’s MQ-20 Avenger unmanned aircraft system, a Sabreliner jet, and two F-5 Advanced Tigers equipped with Lockheed’s next-generation Tactical Infrared Search and […] More

General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business has secured a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the development of an aircraft capable of sustained seaborne strategic and tactical lift. The Defense Department said Friday the $8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract award is in support of DARPA’s Liberty Lifter program. The program’s focus is on designing, building and […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business will provide the U.S. Navy with equipment spares for MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle under a $46.9 million contract modification. Under basic ordering agreement award, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will supply spares needed by the Marine Air Ground Task Force to ensure the operability of MQ-9A Block 5 Reaper air […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business, SES and Hughes Network Systems combined their technologies to conduct a higher data rate transmission of a multi-orbit satellite communications system. A demonstration event was held on Oct. 20 to show the resilience and capability of unmanned aerial vehicles to maintain high workload and mission-critical connectivity in congested and contested […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business will deliver MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles to Poland under a $70.6 million lease agreement with that country’s defense ministry. The MQ-9A system is designed to fly up to 50,000 feet, operate for more than 27 hours and carry up to 3,850 pounds of payload, the company said Monday. Linden Blue, CEO […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business and the U.S. Army have completed a trial run of a ground modernization software suite installed on a prototype of the Gray Eagle Extended Range unmanned aircraft system. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the software’s developer, conducted the flight test with the Army Unmanned Aircraft System Project Office at Fort Stewart […] More

General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business has completed the first flight tests of a new computer system designed to enhance the performance of the Gray Eagle Extended Range unmanned aircraft in contested environments. The Flight Control Module system trials were held by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. on Sept. 13 and 14 at a testing facility in […] More

The U.K. defense ministry has accepted General Atomics‘ handover of the first Protector RG Mk1 remotely piloted aircraft that was developed by its aeronautical systems business. The official event took place after General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and the British agency completed acceptance test procedures for the drone in El Mirage, California, both parties announced in […] More