General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. announced last month (Dec. 19) that it received a $1.86 billion contract from the government of Canada for remotely piloted military aircraft.

The deal, worth $2.49 billion in Canadian currency, will see Poway-based GA-ASI provide 11 MQ-9B SkyGuardian aircraft capable of carrying weapons as well as six ground control stations, according to a statement from the Canadian government.

Canada is also buying 219 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles for the aircraft as well as a dozen 500-pound bombs and a dozen Lynx synthetic aperture radars, according to a September announcement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency office at the Pentagon.

In addition to NATO missions, the aircraft will be capable of performing surveillance in territory north of the Arctic Circle, GA-ASI said.

Canada will join the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain in operating aircraft from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. Poland has leased aircraft under a $70.6 million deal announced in October 2022. In addition, company-owned aircraft are flying missions for Japan and India.

On top of initial revenue, GA-ASI gets recurring annual revenue through support contracts to governments flying its aircraft.

First Delivery in 2028

GA-ASI said it plans to deliver the first of the aircraft in 2028. Canada said it expects its aircraft to be in operation by 2033.

Under the deal, General Atomics will use Canadian contractors to do some of the work on the aircraft. GA-ASI’s Canadian partners include CAE, MDA Ltd. and L3Harris Technologies.

Poway-based GA-ASI refers to its products as RPAS, or Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. In a statement, GA-ASI said the SkyGuardian RPAS is interoperable with Canada’s domestic missions and its continental defense missions through North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), as well as with Canada’s closest allies — including the Five Eyes Alliance and NATO – “for seamless integration with current and future Canadian defense, civil air and ground assets.”

“Canada’s vast territory and complex terrains, including in the Arctic, require a cost-effective multi-mission RPAS solution that can endure long periods on station, fly in harsh weather environments, and safely operate in all airspaces,” said Linden P. Blue, CEO of GA-ASI.

“MQ-9B SkyGuardian delivers those critical capabilities. GA-ASI and Team SkyGuardian Canada are honored by this opportunity to become a key partner to Canada for the very long term in delivering these no-fail defense and security outcomes.”

Crossing the Arctic Circle

Pilots based in Ottawa will operate the aircraft using satellite links. Because Canada will need to fly the aircraft in skies near the Arctic Circle and farther north, the aircraft will have to use satellites, antennas and communication components not previously integrated on SkyGuardian or its sister aircraft. That will require “significant development work,” a Canadian Department of National Defence spokesman told CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, in October.

During the last two years, GA-ASI demonstrated the ability of its aircraft to fly in cold, remote areas of the world.

In February 2023, the business announced that a company-owned SkyGuardian was put in a “cold soak” that kept the aircraft at a temperature lower than 5 degrees below zero Fahrenheit for 12 hours, then prepared for flight using de-icing fluids. The aircraft flew successfully.

GA-ASI also noted how it and Inmarsat – now owned by Carlsbad-based Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) coordinated on a September 2021 flight from North Dakota to 78 degrees north latitude. The flight fed real-time video and optical imaging back to the pilot and sensor operators in the United States.

The flight covered 4,550 miles in 25.5 hours.

“A traditional limitation of long-endurance UAS has been their inability to operate at extreme northern (and southern) latitudes, as many legacy SATCOM datalinks can become less reliable above the Arctic (or below the Antarctic) Circle – approximately 66 degrees north,” GA-ASI said in a 2021 statement. “At those latitudes, the low-look angle to geostationary Ku-band satellites begins to compromise the link. GA-ASI has demonstrated a new capability for effective ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] operations by performing a loiter at 78.31 degrees north, using Inmarsat’s L-band Airborne ISR Service.”

General Atomics
Aeronautical
Systems Inc.

FOUNDED: 1992
CEO: Linden P. Blue
HEADQUARTERS: Poway
BUSINESS: An affiliate of San Diego-based General Atomics, the company produces remotely piloted aircraft and subsystems
WEBSITE: www.ga-asi.com
CONTACT: 858-312-2810
NOTABLE: The Smithsonian Institution calls the company’s Predator aircraft “a drone that transformed military combat.”