General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is a military contractor and subsidiary of

General Atomics General Atomics (GA) is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, that specializes in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion en ...

that designs and manufactures

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

and

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

systems for the U.S. military and commercial applications worldwide.

Operations

In November 2021, GA-ASI received a $103.2 million contract from the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

and a $31.7 million contract from the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

on behalf of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. On December 9, 2021, GA-ASI unveiled the

General Atomics Mojave The General Atomics Mojave is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of short takeoff and landing (STOL), being developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. First unveiled on December 9, 2021, General Atomics states that it is to fulfill ...

drone. On February 1, 2023, GA-ASI along with partner Maritime Applied Physics Corporation won a Phase 1 research contract on DARPA's Liberty Lifter project. On March 6, 2023, the company announced that

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...

has chosen GA-ASI to carry out the design of the air-launched drone through Critical Design Review (CDR); a LongShot would itself carry an

AMRAAM The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) ( ) is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It uses active transmit-receive radar guidance instead of semi-active rece ...

Sidewinder missile The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...

, which greatly extends their range.Chris Jennewei
(6 March 2023) General Atomics Developing 'Paradigm Changing' Drone for Air-to-Air Combat
/ref> In this way, an F-15EX or similar 4th-generation fighter can greatly increase its survivability when armed with a LongShot. On April 11, 2024, the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of China, responsible for the country's foreign relations. It is led by the minister of foreign affairs, currently ...

announced a sanction on the company due to its arms sales to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. In May 2024, General Atomics lost its bid for the

Liberty Lifter program, with the contract being awarded to

Aurora Flight Sciences Aurora Flight Sciences (AFS) is an American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing that specializes in special-purpose unmanned aerial vehicles. Aurora's headquarters is at Manassas Regional Airport. History In 1989, AFS was ...

. On March 4, 2025, the

Chinese Ministry of Commerce The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) is an executive department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China responsible for formulating policies on foreign trade, export and import regulations, foreign direct investments, consumer prot ...

placed 15 U.S. entities (including General Atomics Aeronautical Systems) on its export control list, barring the export of dual-use commodities to that business.

Products

* General Atomics Gnat * General Atomics Prowler * General Atomics Altus *

General Atomics MQ-1 Predator The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the Predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ...

General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle (previously the Warrior; also called Sky Warrior and ERMP or Extended-Range Multi-Purpose) is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). It was developed by General Atomics Aer ...

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, one component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS)) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomi ...

* General Atomics MQ-9B Guardian *

General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger The General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger (formerly Predator C) is a developmental unmanned combat aerial vehicle built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the U.S. military. Design and development Unlike the previous MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 R ...

Projects in active Development

* General Atomics Eaglet

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

UAS, prototype stage * General Atomics LongShot loyal-wingman type UAS, concept stage *

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

UCAV, derived from the Predator Family, prototype stage * General Atomics Sparrowhawk

UAS, prototype stage * General Atomics XQ-67A - (perspective Gambit series) First flight on 28 February 2024Steve Trimble, ''Aviation Week'
(18 Sep 2022) The Weekly Debrief: GA-ASI Unveils Auto-Inspired Gambit Platform For Future UAS
4 form factors for Gambit * General Atomics YFQ-42A - (perspective Gambit series)

References

External links

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
{{General Atomics aircraft Companies based in San Diego Aerospace companies of the United States Aircraft manufacturers of the United States