AVALON 2023: GA-ASI renews Leidos collaboration, socialises Gambit UAS platform

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and Leidos have agreed to continue the successful business relationship established originally in 2006 between GA-ASI and Cobham Australia. With Leidos’ acquisition of the Cobham Special Mission business in October 2022, Leidos has now assumed the role of GA-ASI’s primary Australian industry collaborator for defence and security business.

The arrangement will support discussions relating to a Defence Armed Remotely Piloted Aircraft System, and the Australian Border Force future crewed/uncrewed aircraft system under the Civil Maritime Capability Program. Discussions are also underway between Leidos and GA-ASI for cooperation on further defence projects in Australia and opportunities in the US.

“The broader and deeper capabilities that Leidos brings to the relationship, including its impressive capability within Australia, combined with GA-ASI’s substantial global experience in remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft systems, will provide an impressive capability for Australia’s future defence and security needs,” said Ken Loving, GA-ASI regional vice president for Indo-Pacific.

The company was set to sign a contract with the ADF worth $1.3 billion for the sale of twelve MQ-9B SkyGuardian armed, Medium-Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) under Project AIR7003 Ph.1. This was cancelled unceremoniously in 2022 to free up funds for the Australian Signals Directorate’s $9.9 billion REDSPICE program. This program could be revived in the Defence Strategic Review which is expected to be announced in late-March or April.

Meanwhile, it was announced just before AVALON 2023 that GA-ASI will support the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) RPAS Trial Operation Project. The project will feature GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SeaGuardian and will begin next month.

The SeaGuardian will be used to conduct various tests to review adaptability to support JMSDF’s manned-unmanned teaming missions and its level of manpower reduction. The Japanese government announced that Japan Coast Guard and JMSDF will be exchanging the data obtained by the MQ-9Bs operated for each of the government’s branches.

Although the company didn’t say so, GA-ASI is also positioning its Gambit family of four (so far) autonomous UASs for potential export markets, including Australia. The Gambit program is being developed under the USAF Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Project Vanguard. The Gambit family employs a core platform with a single set of common hardware: landing gear, avionics, core chassis and other essential UAS functions. Having a common core reduces the cost of each separate variant by providing economies of scale and accelerating development of new variants. Separate variants would have different configurations, payloads and wing planforms.

• Gambit 1 would be a long-endurance ISR platform with high aspect-ratio wings, designed to fly ahead of other UASs or manned strike packages
• Gambit 2 would be similar, but with air-air weapons and a resultant drop in endurance
• Gambit 3 would be similar to Gambit 2, but optimized for a complex combat role, including fighting integrated air defence systems and 5^th generation combat aircraft. Its AI-enabled control system would also enable it learn from previous engagements and would also provide manned 5^th generation combat aircraft with a much cheaper sensor feed than employing another manned 5^th generation aircraft
• Gambit 4 would be a stealthy combat reconnaissance model, tailless and with swept wings, optimised for specialised, long-endurance missions

The use of advanced manufacturing technologies such as Additive Manufacture (AM) has reduced the cost of producing prototypes by more than an order of magnitude, and made it possible to meet aggressive AFRL schedules for producing flight test examples.

Another small system in the works by GA-ASI is LongShot which is being developed under a DARPA contract. This is a small, armed UAS which can be launched – and recovered – by larger UASs or human-crewed aircraft and enter hostile airspace armed with its own air-to-air missiles, able to fire on enemy targets if it were so commanded.

LongShot underwent a successful Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in 2022 and GA-ASI is now in contract for Phase 2 which will see detailed design and ground testing to reduce risk – flight testing in Phase 3 is scheduled to begin in 2024.

LongShot could initiate a fighter sweep ahead of a strike package without putting a human crew in danger, or it could join an attack alongside the vanguard with human-crewed warplanes. LongShot also could give bombers a potent new anti-air capability, reducing the need for a fighter escort while preserving the bomber’s ability to engage its targets as planned.

“When we acquired Special Mission last year, we recognised the huge potential for both advancing current capabilities and services and pursuing new opportunities in Australia and globally,” said Leidos Australia Chief Executive Paul Chase. “General Atomics has excellent technology and by collaborating with them, our complementary capabilities and experience will combine to provide world-class solutions for current and future customers.”

At AVALON 2023 GA-ASI also announced it had signed a new MoU with longtime Australian partner Conflux Technology, a thermal management specialist and industry-leading expert, mastering AM for heat exchanger applications. The two companies have collaborated for several years on development of a flight-qualified Fuel Oil Heat Exchanger (FOHE) for GA-ASI platforms.

“Through this new MOU, we will establish a clear path to production for the heat exchanger components used by multiple GA-ASI production lines,” said Ken Loving

“Our continued partnership with General Atomics is a milestone for the commercialization of additively manufactured heat exchangers within the aerospace and defence markets, carrying the significant weight and performance benefits offered by these technologies towards production,” said Abe Masoud, Conflux Business Development Manager – North America.