29 September 2020: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has been awarded a USD 13.5 million contract to upgrade MQ-9 Block 1 and Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft for the Air National Guard (ANG). The procurement includes Generator Power Distribution Modules (GPDM) and kits to integrate the Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) pod, LITENING pod and other mission payloads.
“We stand with our partners in the Air National Guard and are pleased to further enhance capabilities of their RPA systems,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “We are always excited to see the Air National Guard expand mission capability and improve mission effectiveness as they professionally and competently fly the MQ-9 to support both federal and state requirements.”
The GPDM and pod kits will provide ANG with the ability to distribute more electrical AC and DC power to payloads integrated onto MQ-9 aircraft. The BLOS kits provide common aircraft interfaces to payloads integrated on the aircraft’s outboard wing hard points. This will enable 5th generation fighter aircraft (F-35 and F-22) to communicate and share data with 4th generation fighter aircraft (F-15 and F-16).
In June 2020, GA-ASI was awarded a USD 12.1 million contract to upgrade MQ-9 Block 1 and Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Block 25 Dual Control Module Ground Control Station (DCMGCS) and Block 30 Ground Control Station (GCS) for the Air National Guard (ANG). That procurement included kits for High-Definition (HD) displays and special router/multiplexer, as well as Multi-Intelligence Smart Processing (MISP).
