General Atomics Lands Contract to Support Drones

Poway-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. was awarded a $131 million, one-year contract on Thursday by the U.S. Army to provide support for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft.

The Gray Eagle is an extended-range successor to the better-known Predator drone, but can operate for more hours at a time at medium altitudes, and can carry a larger ordinance payload.

According to the publication Defense Technology International, the Gray Eagle was recently deployed in Afghanistan as part of an integrated brigade for the first time.

Early versions of the aircraft were first used in Iraq two years ago.

-City News Service