Australian Defence Force Selects GA-ASI’s MQ-9B for Project Air 7003
5.12.2019 04:28:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), the world’s leading manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), has been advised that the Australian Government has selected GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SkyGuardian® variant to provide the Armed RPAS for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) under Project Air 7003. This follows the Government’s announcement in November 2018 that GA-ASI would provide Armed RPAS to the ADF. The ADF expects to take first delivery in the early 2020s.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191204005989/en/
The Australian Government selected GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SkyGuardian® variant to provide the Armed RPAS for the Australian Defence Force under Project Air 7003. (Photo: Business Wire)
“We have worked closely with the ADF to determine the right RPAS to meet their needs,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI. “MQ-9B will provide the all-weather, multi-mission support, and interoperability that the ADF requires. We look forward to working closely with our Australian industry partners to provide a highly capable RPAS to the ADF, while creating high-tech jobs in Australia.”
The ADF joins other top-tier military forces in choosing a GA-ASI RPAS because of its proven multi-role combat performance. MQ-9B is part of GA-ASI’s Predator® series of RPAS, which is the world’s most trusted and capable armed Medium-altitude, Long-endurance (MALE) RPAS, and hails from a family of aircraft that has flown more than six million flight hours.
The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is acquiring the MQ-9B as part of its Protector RG Mk1 program and is scheduled for first delivery in the early 2020s. The Government of Belgium has approved Belgian Defense to negotiate for the acquisition of MQ-9B to meet the nation’s RPA requirements.
MQ-9B development is the result of a five-year, company funded program to deliver an unmanned aircraft system to meet the stringent airworthiness type-certification requirements of NATO and civil aviation authorities throughout the world. MQ-9B is provisioned for the GA-ASI-developed Detect and Avoid (DAA) system, which consists of air-to-air radar, Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II), and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). The MQ-9B is built for all-weather performance with lightning protection, damage tolerance, and de-icing system.
GA-ASI announced its intention to offer a MALE RPAS to the ADF during AVALON 2017 with the launch of Team Reaper Australia, a robust group of Australian industry partners. The team currently consists of ten world-class Australian companies providing a range of innovative sensor, communication, manufacturing and life-cycle support capabilities including Cobham (lead industry partner), CAE, Raytheon, Flight Data Systems, TAE Aerospace, Quickstep, AirSpeed, Collins Aerospace, Ultra, and SentientVision.
Hi-resolution images of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian are available to qualified media outlets from the GA-ASI media contact list.
About GA-ASI
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With nearly 6 million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com.
Predator, SkyGuardian and Lynx are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191204005989/en/
Contact information
Steven Henden
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
+1 (858) 524-8101
ASI-MediaRelations@ga-asi.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
The Only AI Crypto Lead Prioritization Solution Built With Law Enforcement, for Law Enforcement: Elliptic Launches Pulse24.9.2026 16:15:00 EEST | Press release
Elliptic, the global leader in on-chain risk, today launched Pulse. Pulse puts crypto lead prioritization directly in the hands of every frontline law enforcement and government officer. Crypto now touches every part of law enforcement, from the patrol officer on the street to the detective assigned to investigate the case. Pulse gives each of them a quick, accurate financial summary and a starting point: whether that's a crypto address on a suspect's phone, in a scam ATM victim's receipt, uncovered during a vehicle or pocket search, or found at the scene of an overdose, an arrest, or a seizure. An officer can input anything that looks like a wallet address or transaction hash. Pulse identifies it, reasons over the result, and returns a summary in plain language, enough for the officer to decide on the spot whether the case needs escalation. If a case needs further investigation, one click sends the full analysis forward, not just the evidence. The criminal investigations division gets
SymphonyAI Introduces Symphony Risk Intelligence, an Agent-native Platform That Unlocks Always-on Compliance™ — the Catalyst for Transforming the Financial Crime Operating Model24.9.2026 16:04:00 EEST | Press release
SymphonyAI today introduced Symphony Risk Intelligence (SRI), an enterprise-grade, agent-native platform built to unlock Always-on Compliance™. This is a critical shift from periodic to continuous risk and compliance management, in which institutions continuously reassess risk and adapt controls as regulations, threats and business activity change, rather than waiting for the next scheduled review. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260924914614/en/ Current approaches have reached their structural limits. The FinCrime Frontier 2026–27 Report, released recently by SymphonyAI and AML Intelligence, finds just 4.7% of financial institutions continuously update their compliance monitoring and controls as risk changes, and 76.3% still review alerts manually or with only partial automation — barely changed year over year. Yet standing still isn't an option: the regulatory climate is at a major inflection point across ev
Just 4.7% of Financial Institutions Continuously Update Their Compliance Monitoring and Controls as Risk Changes, New Research Finds24.9.2026 16:04:00 EEST | Press release
SymphonyAI, a global leader in vertical AI product platforms, and AML Intelligence, the leading source of news and insight for the financial crime compliance community, today released the FinCrime Frontier 2026–27 Report, finding that most financial institutions still rely on periodic review cycles to manage financial crime risk, even as the threats and regulations they are meant to track continue to evolve dynamically. Based on the perspectives of more than 200 financial crime and compliance leaders, including senior leaders from major global financial institutions, the research finds that just 4.7% of financial institutions continuously update their compliance monitoring and controls as risk changes, while 56.8% have not adopted always-on compliance monitoring at all, are only exploring it, or remain at an early, pilot-stage level. The finding points to a structural gap: financial crime typologies, payment ecosystems and regulatory expectations are evolving continuously, while most c
Boomi Appoints Mike Hickman as Chief Financial Officer24.9.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Boomi, the data activation company for AI, today announced the appointment of Mike Hickman as Chief Financial Officer. Hickman will lead Boomi's global finance and accounting organization, spanning financial planning and analysis, accounting, treasury, tax, and financial reporting. He reports to Boomi Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Lucas. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260924761566/en/ Boomi Appoints Mike Hickman as Chief Financial Officer Hickman brings three decades of senior finance leadership in high-growth SaaS and technology companies, with experience across the full corporate lifecycle: scaling through IPO, executing a take-private, and integrating large acquisitions. He joins from Proofpoint, where he spent seven and a half years, most recently as Senior Vice President of Finance, helping guide the company through its $12.3 billion take-private and the $1.8 billion acquisition of Hornetsec
Altasciences Supports 4B Healthcare in Advancing Steroid Nasal Irrigation Rinse to Clinical Trials24.9.2026 15:40:00 EEST | Press release
Altasciences is proud to announce that recent formulation work supporting 4B Healthcare Inc. (“4B”) has helped advance its RhineX nasal irrigation rinse therapy into clinical investigation. Following several months of formulation development, R&D manufacturing, stability testing, and quality assurance support at Altasciences’ CDMO facility in Harleysville, PA, the Tennessee-based pharmaceutical company has received FDA clearance to proceed with clinical testing of RhineX under its IND. First subject dosing is planned for October 2026, approximately seven months after formulation development began. "The concept for RhineX grew out of a problem I have seen in my own ENT practice for years—the need for a better treatment option for allergic rhinitis when conventional medical therapy is not enough,” said Brannon Mangus, MD, Co-Founder and CEO of 4B. “We founded 4B Healthcare to take that physician insight and turn it into a pharmaceutical product that could meaningfully change how these pa
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom