Interview with GA-ASI’s Tommy Dunehew

As Vice President of International Strategic Development for GA-ASI, Tommy Dunehew is responsible for overseeing international capture initiatives across the company’s full line of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electrooptic and related mission systems.

LoD: Militaries are increasingly moving away from maritime patrol aircraft and using RPA for maritime surveillance. Do you see the trend continuing?

TD: We do. GA-ASI believes our RPA provide great options for the maritime and overland domains, both as a stand-alone or low-cost, complementary asset. SeaGuardian’s Ground Control Station can share realtime feeds, as well as share collected intelligence with other agencies and command centers on the ground using our System for Tasking And Real-time Exploitation (STARE). This capability allows maritime patrol aircraft to act on specific vessels in the full range of maritime operations, from search and rescue, to law enforcement to Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). In a time of limited MPA resources, the ability to visualize, task, correlate, and deliver the best product to decisionmakers in a timely manner is critical to maintaining effective control of territorial waters and exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

LoD: Please provide an update on the MQ-9B SeaGuardian interest globally?

TD: MQ-9B has garnered significant interest from customers throughout the world. The UK Ministry of Defence selected MQ-9B SkyGuardian for its Protector Program, and recently concluded the production contract for deliveries to the Royal Air Force. SkyGuardian was selected by the Australian Defence Force under Project Air 7003, and the Belgian Ministry of Defense signed a contract for SkyGuardian in August. LoD: The military UAV market is a rather crowded one, with countries such as China offering their products at a very competitive price. How confident are you about your market prospects?

TD: GA-ASI is the global leader in UAS. Our aircraft have been a key asset in securing the defense of the U.S. and its allies. We’re now approaching 30 years in business and with that, are getting ready to make our first delivery of the new MQ-9B: the world’s most advanced unmanned aircraft. After the UK takes its first delivery of the Protector (MQ-9B variant), we’ll look forward to deliveries to Australia, Belgium and other customers. We’re also very busy on the development side, bringing forward new and innovative capabilities, such as ASW, SelfProtection Pod, and High Frequency Command & Control to name just a few. With that said, GA-ASI will continue to innovate and build the value of our aircraft for our customers.

LoD: Please describe General Atomics’ recent efforts to achieve seamless operations in all classes of airspace for the MQ-9B platform?

TD: The first prototype SkyGuardian RPA flew in November 2016, and has since achieved a number of important milestones on its path to certification and unrestricted airspace access. In June 2018, it became the first Mediumaltitude, Long-endurance RPAS to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, landing at RAF Fairford, UK as part of the Royal Air Force’s 100th anniversary celebration.

On November 24, 2020, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) completed development and test of the world’s first self-contained Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability for an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).

In April 2020, we demonstrated a commercial surveying mission in Southern California and Arizona, equipped with a full Detect and Avoid (DAA) system, for NASA’s System Integration and Operationalization program. In September 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Experimental Certification approval to fly the RPAS without a chase plane, making full use of its DAA system to maintain safe separation from all air traffic in nonsegregated airspace.

Most recently, we used that approval to perform a series of maritime patrol validation flights for the Japan Coast Guard operating from Hachinoe, and flying thousands of miles throughout the oceanic airspace controlled by Japan.

In tandem, GA-ASI has been working closely with the UK Ministry of Defence and Military Aviation Authority towards Military Type Certification for Protector, the UK variant of MQ-9B SkyGuardian. This will be a first for any large RPAS. A Combined Test Team will begin flying production-standard aircraft within the next few months, and GA-ASI continues to amass the evidence needed for certification.

LoD: Maritime surveillance is now becoming a mainstream role for the MQ-9 series of aircraft. Can you describe sensor payload options available to customers?

TD: The MQ-9B SeaGuardian can be integrated with a 360-degree, multi-mode maritime patrol radar (MPR), high-definition Electrooptical/Infrared (EO/IR), Signals Intelligence sensors, Automatic Identification System (AIS), and AntiSubmarine Warfare (ASW) sonobuoy deployment, processing and control. This cross-domain maritime sensor suite, augmented by automatic track correlation and anomaly-detection algorithms, enables real-time detection and identification of surface and subsurface vessels over thousands of square nautical miles.

LoD: GA-ASI recently completed unmanned aircraft anti-submarine warfare (ASW) demonstration of sonobuoy dispensing and remote processing on a MQ-9A Block 5. Do you think this will make the SeaGuardian even more attractive for navies?

TD: Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) is one of a number of maritime capabilities that we believe customers are very interested in. ASW is not just a tactical capability… it is a strategic capability. The ASW test that we completed with the U.S. Navy at the end of 2020 demonstrated the world’s first self-contained ASW for UAS. The successful completion of this test paves the way for future development of more ASW capabilities for MQ9. We look forward to continuing collaboration with the U.S. and global navies as they explore innovative options for distributed maritime operations in the undersea domain.

GA-ASI has already received orders for ASW capability on our MQ-9B SeaGuardian maritime UAS from two international customers, and anticipates demand to be extremely strong for the MQ-9B SeaGuardian with its high-end maritime capabilities and relative low cost compared to manned maritime platforms. It’s easy to add the maritime and ASW kits to MQ-9B SkyGuardians to transform them into MQ-9B SeaGuardians.

LoD: How does automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) add to the operation and PED capabilities of the MQ-9B?

TD: GA-ASI is exploring the new frontier of AI-enabled autonomy in keeping with the company’s commitment to responding to the needs of not only the warfighter, but what civil operators would also need to do their missions. GA-ASI was selected by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC)

On September 25, 2020, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) completed the first flight of the Protector RG Mk1 Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), the fourth MQ-9B SkyGuardian air vehicle produced. The first Protector RPAS will be used to support system testing as part of a combined UK Ministry of Defence, U.S. Air Force and GA-ASI test team. to support the Skyborg Vanguard Program.

Skyborg will become the foundation of AI and ML autonomous capabilities for a family of future USAF unmanned combat aerial vehicles. To fast track this gamechanging capability, GA-ASI will leverage its Avenger Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) to integrate Skyborg software with GA-ASI hardware in order to prove that a dynamic mix of manned and unmanned aircraft can communicate, collaborate, and fight together. In addition, the CODE Autonomy flights represent a big step on the path to more sophisticated autonomous missions for unmanned aircraft where operator input can be minimized to support optimal manning of multiple products for complex air operations.

LoD: Finally… We saw your announcement about your new SkyGuardian Global Support Solutions (SGSS). What can you tell us about this new warrantee program for MQ-9B?

TD: Operators of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian and/or SeaGuardian remotely piloted aircraft will be the first eligible to subscribe to an unprecedented new suite of services, SkyGuardian Global Support Solutions. As the world leader in advanced remote and autonomous aviation, GA-ASI knows that its customers do not only require the high-quality capabilities and multimission flexibility of an aircraft such as the SkyGuardian.

They also require a complete life-cycle sustainment approach that improves operational availability and reduces costs. That is why, applying a common, proven practice from the world of commercial aviation, GA-ASI’s Support Solutions suite guarantees uptime, simplifies maintenance and provides highdemand users with all the performance and availability they require at an affordable cost per hour.

GA-ASI’s Support Solutions suite means that users of the SkyGuardian and its sibling SeaGuardian have ready access to spare parts, depot-level repair expertise, engineering field support, program sustainment engineering and more.