General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business has received additional orders from the U.K. defense ministry for 13 Protector RG Mk1-configured MQ-9B SkyGuardian unmanned aircraft systems. The U.K. ministry exercised a clause on its existing production contract to add to the initial three Protector remotely piloted air systems ordered in September 2020, General Atomics said Thursday. Each […] More

General Atomics has rolled out the first MQ-9A Block 5 unmanned aircraft and ground control station the company’s aeronautical systems unit produced for the Netherlands’ air force to fulfill a foreign military sales requirement. The acceptance testing phase for the Dutch remotely piloted aircraft is scheduled to commence in early 2022 at the Gray Butte Flight […] More

General Atomics has conducted ground and flight tests of a brushless generator system built for the extended-range variant of its Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system. The company said Wednesday its aeronautical and electromagnetic systems business units jointly developed the new motor to generate up to 14 kilowatts of power for the GE-ER platform, a 50 […] More

General Atomics will perform mid-life modernization work on the MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft owned by the Italian air force under a U.S. government contract intended to fulfill a foreign military sales requirement. The company said Thursday its aeronautics systems business will incorporate the Block 5 configuration into Italy’s MQ-9 fleet and update ground terminals used […] More

General Atomics' aeronautical systems unit took part in an exercise where U.S. Pacific Fleet demonstrated the integrated use of unmanned platforms with other manned naval systems. The company said Wednesday its MQ-9A Block 5 unmanned aircraft system showcased its ability to connect with U.S. Navy ships and traditional jets during Unmanned Integrated Battle Problem ‘21.

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The U.S. Air Force performed flights of the General Atomics-built MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft equipped with the Reaper Defense Electronic Support System and a digital recorder in Europe through remote split operations. RDESS is an electronic support measure payload that provides MQ-9 with electronic sensing capability by gathering and geolocating signals of interest from standoff ranges, while the digital recorder collects multispectral targeting pod data to further develop machine learning and artificial intelligence applications.

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General Atomics' aeronautical systems business has recorded more than 1 million flight hours for its Gray Eagle unmanned aerial system since the aircraft's first deployment with the U.S. Army in March 2004. The Gray Eagle platform hit the milestone during March 16 flight operations conducted by the military service, the company said Wednesday.

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General Atomics' aeronautical systems business used a new command and control software to help the U.S. Army test an extended-range unmanned aircraft system. The Gray Eagle Extended Range UAS flew on Jan. 28 for acceptance testing under the control of General Atomics' Scalable C2 software that was operated via an Army laptop, the company said Wednesday.

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General Atomics' aeronautical systems business has received the Federal Aviation Administration's approval to test a second Avenger Extended Range unmanned aircraft system in U.S. national airspace. The company said Wednesday it will use the FAA-granted experimental certificate to expand Avenger ER's testing activities for internal research and development, as well as contracted efforts.

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General Atomics' aeronautics systems business has entered into an agreement with U.K.-based aerospace subsystem supplier GKN Aerospace to begin full-rate production work for the MQ-9B SkyGuardian remotely piloted aircraft's composite V-tails.

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Leonardo has teamed up with General Atomics' aeronautical systems business to test and offer an expendable active decoy system as an off-the-shelf protection option for the MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft.

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General Atomics' aeronautical systems business has introduced a new program meant to support operators of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian and the marine configuration of SeaGuardian remotely piloted aircraft units.

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