DEFENCE
General Atomics Aeronautical Leverages Additive Manufacturing for Product Line of UAS World Leader in Unmanned Systems leans Into Its Global Partnerships for Additive Manufacturing, creating high strength-to-weight ratio components and shortening the manufacturing process. Being the world leader in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) means continuing to evolve in all areas of the business enterprise in order to continue providing customers with the best product at the best price. At least that’s the attitude of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), designer and developer of the MQ-9A Reaper, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, and the new MQ-9B SkyGuardian®/ SeaGuardian® UAS that have become ubiquitous in the areas of national security and defence throughout the world.
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Developing global partnerships to improve products in the design phase or through-life phase is proving to be highly beneficial to GA-ASI and its customers. New Zealand’s highly capable, niche design and manufacturing industry, in particular, affords many opportunities to expand regional UAS opportunities well into the future. As GA-ASI builds on its 30-year legacy, which includes more than 1,000 aircraft delivered and more than 8 million flight hours across its Predator® aircraft series, the company continues its long tradition to lead
through innovation in technologies that differentiate its UAS platforms. One such cutting-edge technology is Additive Manufacturing(AM) for which GA-ASI has become an industry leader. So, what is Additive Manufacturing? AM is a process by which a manufacturer takes a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model and virtually slices it into thousands of layers. The layered data is sent to a printer where material is added one layer at a time in order to create a three-dimensional object. This process is commonly referred to as 3D printing.
Line of Defence
