General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) was awarded a $94,808,020 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research, development, test, and evaluation of Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Smart Sensor Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) prototype. The work was awarded by the Army Contracting Command on April 30, 2024, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2026.

The Smart Sensor System is being developed by the Chief Digital AI Office (CDAO) with a goal of creating a platform-agnostic AI and autonomy system that enables autonomous surveillance and reconnaissance operations in contested environments, as well as being able to communicate with other platforms.

"GA-ASI has invested in and deployed autonomy capabilities for several years as part of our aircraft mission systems," said Darren Moe, senior director for Automation, Autonomy and AI development for GA-ASI. "Being selected to perform this work against a pool of almost 1,000 bidders is a great achievement and opportunity for our company to apply its AI and autonomy skills to this important development program."

GA-ASI is a world leader in Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). Last year the company supported a 90-day deployment for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) where Smart Sensor was successfully demonstrated in a Maritime Operational Environment.