General Atomics‘ electromagnetic systems business has received a $133.9M Missile Defense Agency contract to develop, integrate and test a new sensor for use with the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle.
The company will test the sensor in realistic conditions at locations within and outside the continental U.S., the Defense Department said Monday.
The agency will initially obligate $7.1M in research, development, test and engineering funds allotted for fiscal 2018 at the time of award.
Development will take place in San Diego, with overall work to occur through October 2021.
The MDA sourced the contract competitively under a broad agency announcement.
The MQ-9, also known as the Predator B, is a modular UAV designed to operate with multiple types of mission payloads such as electro-optical/infrared sensors, multi-mode maritime surveillance radars and laser designators.
