General Atomics is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, specializing in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of

nuclear fission Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...

and

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifest ...

energy. The company also provides research and manufacturing services for remotely operated

surveillance aircraft A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, reconnaissance, observa ...

, including the

Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

drones, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless, and laser technologies.

History

General Atomics (GA) was founded on July 18, 1955, in

, by

Frederic de Hoffmann Frederic de Hoffmann (July 8, 1924 in Vienna, Austria – October 4, 1989 in La Jolla) was a nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. He came to the United States of America in 1941 and graduated from Harvard University in 1945 (he als ...

with assistance from notable physicists

Edward Teller Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care fo ...

and

Freeman Dyson Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was an English-American theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum m ...

. Originally the company was part of the General Atomic division of

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

"for harnessing the power of nuclear technologies for the benefit of mankind". GA's first offices were in the

facility on Hancock Street in San Diego. GA also used a schoolhouse on San Diego's Barnard Street as its temporary headquarters, which it would later "adopt" as part of its Education Outreach program. In 1956, San Diego voters approved the transfer of land to GA for permanent facilities in Torrey Pines, and the

John Jay Hopkins John Jay Hopkins (October 15, 1893 – May 3, 1957) was founder and president of General Dynamics from 1952 to 1957. Hopkins was born in Santa Ana, California. He was assistant to the Treasury Secretary. In 1937, he joined Electric Boat as a la ...

Laboratory for Pure and Applied Science was formally dedicated there on June 25, 1959. The Torrey Pines facility continues to serve as the company's headquarters today. General Atomics's initial projects were the

TRIGA TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) is a class of nuclear research reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA, which included Edward Teller, was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson. Design ...

nuclear research reactor Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or mariti ...

, which was designed so that it was guaranteed to be safe by the laws of nature, and Project Orion. GA helped develop and run the

San Diego Supercomputer Center The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) is an organized research unit of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). SDSC is located at the UCSD campus' Eleanor Roosevelt College east end, immediately north the Hopkins Parking Structure. ...

. A brief history of the company: * 1967: Sold to

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

and renamed Gulf General Atomic. * 1973: Renamed "General Atomic Company" when

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

Group's Scallop Nuclear Inc. became a 50–50 partner. * 1979:

Harold Agnew Harold Melvin Agnew (March 28, 1921 – September 29, 2013) was an American physicist, best known for having flown as a scientific observer on the Hiroshima bombing mission and, later, as the third director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory ...

appointed president and CEO * 1982: Renamed "GA Technologies Inc" when Gulf bought out its partner. * 1984: Taken ownership of by

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

following its merger with Gulf Oil. * 1986: Sold to a company owned by Neal Blue and Linden Blue when it assumed its current name. * 1987: Joined by former US Navy Rear Admiral, Thomas J. Cassidy Jr. * 1993: Awarded the "Information Services" portion of the NSF contract for InterNIC functions and publishes Internet Scout Report. * 1993: Spawned General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), with Neal Blue as Chairman-CEO and Thomas J. Cassidy as president. * 1994: GA-ASI spun off as an affiliate. * 1995: Ended role as provider of InterNIC Information Services. On March 15, 2010, Rear Adm. Thomas J. Cassidy stepped down as President of GA-ASI's Aircraft Systems Group, staying on as non-executive chairman of the company's management committee. Frank Pace, the executive vice president of Aircraft Systems Group, succeeded Cassidy as President of GA-ASI. General Atomics is also developing a

Generation IV reactor Generation IV reactors (Gen IV) are six nuclear reactor designs recognized by the Generation IV International Forum. The designs target improved safety, sustainability, efficiency, and cost. The most developed Gen IV reactor design is the sodium ...

design, the

Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor The Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor (GT-MHR) is a class of nuclear fission power reactor designed that was under development by a group of Russian enterprises (OKBM Afrikantov, Kurchatov Institute, VNIINM and others), an American group headed ...

(GT-MHR). In 2010, General Atomics presented a new version of the GT-MHR, the Energy Multiplier Module (EM2), which uses

fast neutrons The neutron detection temperature, also called the neutron energy, indicates a free neutron's kinetic energy, usually given in electron volts. The term ''temperature'' is used, since hot, thermal and cold neutrons are moderated in a medium with ...

and is a

Gas-cooled fast reactor The gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR) system is a nuclear reactor design which is currently in development. Classed as a Generation IV reactor, it features a fast-neutron spectrum and closed fuel cycle for efficient conversion of fertile uranium ...

. General Atomics, including its affiliate, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, is San Diego County's largest defense contractor, according to a September 2013 report by the San Diego Military Affairs Council. The top five contractors, ranked by defense-generated revenue in fiscal year 2013, were General Atomics, followed by Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics-NASSCO, BAE Systems, and SAIC. A separate October 2013 report by the San Diego Business Journal ranked contractors by the number of local employees. The top three contractors were General Atomics, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics NASSCO. In September 2020, a $7.4 billion contract for MQ-9 Reaper drones was announced between the U.S. Air Force and General Atomics. The contract calls for the delivery of up to 36 aircraft per year.

Leadership

General Atomics Global Corporation appointed Indian-American defense industry veteran Vivek Lall as its new Chief Executive. This is Dr. Lall's second stint with the company as he has worked with General Atomics from August 2014 to December 2017 before joining Lockheed Martin.

Business groups

* Electromagnetic Systems Group ** The Electromagnetic Systems (EMS) Group is a supplier of electromagnetic systems and related power equipment for a variety of defense, energy, and commercial transportation applications. EMS has expertise in the design and fabrication of linear motors, superconducting and conventional rotating motors, power inverters, high-voltage DC power distribution systems, and numerous other energy conversion, distribution, and storage systems. EMS is a major factor in applying electromagnetic technologies to aircraft launch and recovery ( EMALS and AAG System), projectile launch (Navy

railgun A railgun or rail gun is a linear motor device, typically designed as a weapon, that uses electromagnetic force to launch high velocity projectiles. The projectile normally does not contain explosives, instead relying on the projectile's high ...

), and magnetic levitation transportation systems. ** Nuclear Technology & Materials (NTM) *** Advanced fission reactor technology *** Nuclear fuels and

medical isotopes A medical isotope is an isotope used in medicine. The first uses of isotopes in medicine were in radiopharmaceuticals, and this is still the most common use. However more recently, separated stable isotopes have also come into use. Examples of ...

*** Nuclear Materials Science & Engineering *Energy Group **Magnetic Fusion Energy *** DIII-D National Fusion Facility *** ITER Central Solenoid *** Fusion Plasma Theory and Computation **

Inertial confinement fusion Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a fusion energy process that initiates nuclear fusion reactions by compressing and heating targets filled with thermonuclear fuel. In modern machines, the targets are small spherical pellets about the size of ...

technology

Affiliated companies

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is a military contractor and subsidiary of General Atomics that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles and radar systems for the U.S. military and commercial applications worldwide ...

, Inc. (GA-ASI)GA-ASI's Aircraft Systems Group produces the Predator series of

remotely piloted aircraft An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

used in the Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan conflicts. GA-ASI's Reconnaissance Systems Group provides tactical reconnaissance radars, as well as high-resolution surveillance systems for both manned and

unmanned aircraft An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

. * General Atomics Electronic Systems, Inc. (GA-ESI)consists of five product lines involving different aspects of energy. ** Terminal Automation Products (TAP) provides automated distribution, inventory control and

transaction processing system Transaction processing is a way of computing that divides work into individual, indivisible operations, called transactions. A transaction processing system (TPS) is a software system, or software/ hardware combination, that supports transaction ...

s to bulk product storage facilities that handle petroleum, chemical and agricultural products. ** Radiation Monitoring Systems (RMS) designs, manufactures, and supports a full range of

radiation monitoring Radiation monitoring involves the measurement of radiation dose or radionuclide contamination for reasons related to the assessment or control of exposure to radiation or radioactive substances, and the interpretation of the results. Environment ...

, detecting, control, data collection, and display equipment, with equipment and systems at over half of the currently operating nuclear plants in the United States and at numerous sites in Europe and throughout the Far East. ** General Atomics Energy Products manufactures Maxwell high voltage capacitors after acquiring the product line from Maxwell Technologies in 2000. ** The Gulftronic Separator System is a continuous operation, electrostatic, on-stream separation system currently in use by most major oil companies. Since their introduction in 1979, over 30 systems have been installed at petroleum refineries worldwide. ** TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes and General Atomics), with over 65 facilities in 22 countries, is a supplier of nuclear research reactors for university, industrial, government, and medical applications. Originally designed to meet requirements for operator training, educational programs including nuclear research, and fuel development, TRIGA's design has allowed its usage to be expanded to meet the requirements of application in medical and agricultural research, isotope production, and neutron radiography. * General Atomics Systems Integration, LLC (GA-SI)provider of military and commercial engineering services. GA-SI is active in aircraft systems integration technologies, reliability improvements, and controls system design. GA-SI provides engineering services for new-development and aging-system services to military and commercial customers. The company also provides Test and Evaluation assessment as well as field services. *

ConverDyn ConverDyn is a general partnership between American multinational firms General Atomics and Honeywell that provides uranium hexafluoride (UF6) conversion and related services to utilities operating nuclear power plants in North America, Europe, a ...

provides

uranium hexafluoride Uranium hexafluoride (), (sometimes called "hex") is an inorganic compound with the formula UF6. Uranium hexafluoride is a volatile white solid that reacts with water, releasing corrosive hydrofluoric acid. The compound reacts mildly with alumin ...

(UF₆) conversion and related services to utilities operating nuclear power plants in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company coordinates and manages all aspects of the conversion process, including uranium deliveries, uranium sampling, materials storage, and product delivery. Jointly owned by Honeywell Inc. * Cotter Corporationheadquartered in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Through its various mining and milling operations, Cotter has produced uranium, vanadium, molybdenum, silver, lead, zinc, copper, selenium, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, and limestone. Originally incorporated in 1956, in New Mexico as a uranium production company, Cotter was purchased by and became a wholly owned subsidiary of

Commonwealth Edison Commonwealth Edison, commonly known by syllabic abbreviation as ComEd, is the largest electric utility in Illinois, and the in Chicago and much of Northern Illinois. Its service territory stretches roughly from Iroquois County on the south to ...

in 1975. GA acquired Cotter in early 2000. * Heathgate Resources Pty. Ltd.Formed in 1990, Heathgate Resources is the owner and operator of the

Beverley Uranium Mine The Beverley Mine is Australia's third uranium mine and Australia's first operating in-situ recovery mine. It is located in South Australia in the gazetted locality of Wooltana about 35 km from Lake Frome at the northern end of the Flinder ...

in northern

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Beverley is Australia's third uranium mine and Australia's only operating

In Situ Leach In-situ leaching (ISL), also called in-situ recovery (ISR) or solution mining, is a mining process used to recover minerals such as copper and uranium through boreholes drilled into a deposit, ''in situ''. In situ leach works by artificially disso ...

mine. * Nuclear Fuels CorporationNFC was formed in 1991, by General Atomics (GA) to market uranium produced from GA mining assets as well as to develop additional uranium projects. NFC is a long-term contract supplier to both US and foreign utilities and actively participates in uranium trading. NFC is the marketing representative for other GA affiliates, Heathgate Resources and Cotter Corporation. The company also has an agreement to purchase all uranium recovered by Wismut GmbH from reclamation of the Königstein mine in eastern Germany. * Rio Grande Resources Corporationcontrols uranium operations and mineral resources acquired by GA from Chevron Resources in 1991. Included in this acquisition were mines in south Texas and New Mexico. In New Mexico, the Mt. Taylor project, a conventional underground mine that contains the largest uranium resource in the United States, is currently on standby. * TRIGA International (with CERCA, a subsidiary of Areva) * Spezialtechnik Dresden GmbHSTD partners with General Atomics to market the Predator drone in Germany. On 30 September 2020, General Atomics bought the

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 19 ...

production line in

Oberpfaffenhofen Oberpfaffenhofen is a village that is part of the municipality of Weßling in the district of Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. It is located about from the city center of Munich. Village The village is home to the Oberpfaffenhofen Airport and a m ...

, along the business aviation and helicopter MRO operations of RUAG, pending regulatory approval.

Educational outreach

Since 1992, the General Atomics Science Education Outreach Program, a volunteer effort of GA employees and San Diego science teachers, has worked with Science Coordinators for the San Diego Schools to bring the business and research side of science into the classroom. The goal is both to improve the quality of science education and to encourage more students to pursue science careers. In addition, the teachers' interactions with the scientists and exposure to everyday uses of their disciplines help them to be better educators. In 1995, the program was expanded, and the General Atomics Sciences Education Foundation

01(c) (3) 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawano ...

was established. The General Atomics Sciences Education Foundation's goal is to play a major role in enhancing pre-college education in science, engineering, and new technologies. To attain this goal, four areas of core competency at General Atomics were initially selected to form the basis for the development of inquiry-based education modules and associated workshops. Scientist/teacher teams wrote these modules, which fuse the content and methodology of industrial research and development with the teaching skills of experienced science teachers.

Awards

* 2013 Neal Blue, CEO of General Atomics, receives the 29th Annual International von Karman Wings Award * 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Company of the Year * 2008 Defense News Top 100, Ranked #57 * Frost & Sullivan 2006 Business Development Strategy Leadership Award, presented for Gains in the Unmanned Aerial Systems Market * Shephard Press' Unmanned Vehicles 2005 UAV Design Innovation Award, presented for Warrior Extended Range/Multi-Purpose UAV * Aviation Week 2005 Employer of Choice Finalist, Diversity, Valuing People, Technological ChallengeThird Best US Aerospace/Defense Employer * USAF Association 2004

John R. Alison John Richardson Alison (November 21, 1912 – June 6, 2011) was a highly decorated American combat ace of World War II and is often cited as the father of Air Force Special Operations. Early years Born in Micanopy, Florida, near Gainesvill ...

Award for the most outstanding contributions to national defense by an industrial leader, presented to President/CEO, Thomas J. Cassidy Jr. * AUVSI's 2002 Pioneer Award, presented to President/CEO Thomas J. Cassidy Jr. * USAF's 2001 Packard Award for Development & Engineering, presented for Predator/Hellfire Integration

Government influence

Since 2005, the Center for Responsible Politics reported General Atomics had spent over $1.5 million per year in

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

efforts from 2005 to 2011. In April 2002, the company paid for Letitia White, who was then a top aide to Representative

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

, and her husband to travel to Italy. White left Lewis' office nine months later, to become a lobbyist at

Copeland Lowery Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White is a California lobbying firm founded by James Copeland in 1992, which was the subject of a federal investigation into earmarks granted to its clients by Rep. Jerry Lewis. In June 2006, the firm changed its ...

. The next day, she began representing General Atomics. Lewis, her former boss, was at the time chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Authority control Defense companies of the United States Nuclear technology in the United States Technology companies based in San Diego American companies established in 1955 Technology companies established in 1955 1955 establishments in California General Dynamics Privately held companies based in California