Brenda Marie Rivers
The U.S. Navy has awarded General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business a $26.9M contract to provide MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial systems and a mobile control station to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and persistent strike activities.
GA-ASI will supply two Reapers as well as a data center and a separate ground control station designed for Group 5 UAS platforms’ persistent strike and ISR operations, the Department of Defense said Monday.
Naval Air Systems Command will obligate the full amount in fiscal 2020 Navy aircraft procurement funds at the time of award.
Forty percent of work under the firm-fixed-price contract will take place in Yuma, Ariz., and the remaining 60 percent will occur outside the continental U.S. through December.
MQ-9A, also known as Predator B, is a multimission remotely piloted aircraft built to carry up to 3,850 pounds of payload for 27 hours at 50K feet. The UAS has been deployed to support the Air Force as well as NASA, the Department of Homeland Security and various allied air forces around the world.
