General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has partnered with Swedish defense firm Saab to develop an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) capability for its line of MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft.
GA-ASI will pair Saab’s AEW sensors with the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) MQ-9B. The models will include SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian, the United Kingdom’s Protector, and the new MQ-9B STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) model currently in development.
According to GA-ASI, the MQ-9B AEW solution will offer critical aloft sensing to defend against tactical air, guided missiles, drones, and other threats at a fraction of the cost of manned platforms.
Operational availability for medium-altitude long-endurance UAS is the highest of any military aircraft, and as an unmanned platform, its aircrew are not put into harm’s way.
AEW for MQ-9B will augment existing AEW fleets by extending their effective ranges. It also provides air forces that require AEW but lack legacy platforms with the means to counter threats.
GA-ASI and Saab’s AEW offering will span a wide range of applications, including early detection and warning; long-range detection and tracking; simultaneous target tracking and flexible combat system integration, all over line-of-sight and SATCOM connectivity.
The company plans to fly AEW on MQ-9B next year.
GA-ASI has MQ-9B orders from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Poland, Japan, Taiwan, India, and the US. In March this year, the company deployed and tested anti-submarine sensors on an MQ-9B SeaGuardian drone using multiple pre-production sonobuoy dispensing system (SDS) pods.
Meanwhile, GA-ASI delivered the final MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 extended range (ER) UAS to the US Marine Corps earlier this month. The system will expand the US Marine Corps’ long-range mission in support of Force Design 2030 priorities and distributed maritime operations.