General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) plans to make the first-ever trans-Atlantic flight of a Medium-altitude, Long-endurance (MALE) Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) on July 10-11. GA-ASI’s company-owned MQ-9B SkyGuardian RPA is scheduled to fly from GA-ASI’s Flight Test and Training Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota to Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK. GA-ASI has partnered with Inmarsat—the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications (SATCOM) services—for the trans-Atlantic flight. The MQ-9B’s ground control station will use Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband SATCOM to communicate and control the aircraft.

On April 4, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.’s (GA‑ASI) Predator-series family of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)—made up of Predator, Predator B, Gray Eagle, and Avenger lines—reached the five million flight hour mark. At the time of the achievement, a total of 360,311 missions had been completed, with more than 90 percent of all missions flown in combat. “Five million flight hours is a testament to the reliability of our RPA systems that are designed, built, and maintained by a dedicated group of skilled and innovative professionals for operations around the world,” says Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.’s (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Predator B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) was used to successfully demonstrate the remote detection and tracking of submerged contacts, such as submarines, during an Oct. 12 U.S. Naval exercise. GA-ASI participated in the successful demonstration of new maritime patrol capabilities, which included anti-submarine warfare, during the flight that took place over the Southern California Offshore Range (SCORE) west of San Clemente Island.