GA-ASI Expands Presence in Middle East and North Africa

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA ASI), a leading manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems solutions, today announced that it opened an office in Abu Dhabi in August to support its Middle East and North African (MENA) customers. Additionally, it will support the United Arab Emirates, the first customer of the Predator® RPA -series outside of the U.S. and NATO countries.

“GA-ASI has tremendous capabilities to offer MENA countries, and our office in Abu Dhabi supports the goal of expanding our presence in these regions while strengthening our customer relationships,” said Frank W. Pace, president, Aircraft Systems, GA-ASI. “We intend to support these markets with complete RPA systems and full-service sustainment for many years to come and have selected a team with an established track record for generating results to energize our business development efforts in these territories.”

GA-ASI’s Abu Dhabi office was opened to demonstrate the company’s commitment to supporting the MENA regions’ growing defense and aerospace requirements. The office’s objective is to implement a business model allowing the company to grow and shape its customer market, pursuing new opportunities within the MENA countries. Additionally, the office will establish a strong local presence for GA-ASI, strengthening working relationships within the UAE and neighboring countries in the region.

With an endurance of over 35 hours and the ability to ascend up to 25,000 feet, Predator XP is designed with state-of-the-art technologies, including an automatic takeoff and landing capability, redundant flight control surfaces, enhanced avionics, triple-redundant flight control computers, a high-definition Electro-optical Infrared (EO/IR) camera sensor, and a wide-area search radar system for both overland and maritime surveillance. The aircraft also is equipped with both Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) data link systems for over-the-horizon operations. Predator XP is GA-ASI’s newest aircraft design and has completed over 90 flight tests since its first flight in June 2014. It is now in production and ready to meet the growing need for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability in the MENA region.