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Co. Provides Crews for Drones Flying Intelligence Missions

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. is getting a new source of revenue: It plans to provide contract pilots for unmanned U.S. government-owned Predator aircraft.

Citing interviews with company officials — including Chris Pehrson, GA-ASI’s Washington-based director of strategic development —

Defense One reports that GA-ASI is now providing crews for Pentagon intelligence flights, and that the first crew made its first flight in August. The private, Poway-based company, which builds the Air Force’s Predators and Reapers, is said to have entered a contract in April.

A GA-ASI spokeswoman declined comment on the account. Financial terms of the deal were not available.

The pilots, of course, fly the aircraft by remote control, often from the other side of the world. A satellite relays commands to the aircraft.

There was no word on where the intelligence flights are taking place. The Defense One account said that contractors would not fly aircraft that shoot Hellfire missiles but could conceivably provide intelligence for targeting.

Defense One said that the government is hiring contract pilots because it wants to put more Predators in the air at any given time. A recent Wall Street Journal report said that the Pentagon wanted to increase the number of combat air patrols by almost 50 percent by 2019. The Defense One account said military pilots were overworked and exhausted.

GA-ASI also plans a school to train pilots, according to Defense One, which is part of the media corporation that publishes the Atlantic and the National Journal. In other news, there are media reports that GA-ASI may soon sell four unmanned aircraft to Spain, though IHS Jane’s said Spain was also considering the Heron drone produced by Israeli Aerospace Industries.

GA-ASI declined comment last week, but has hinted that a Spanish deal was in the works. It announced in March that it was teaming up with the Spanish engineering firm SENER to make Predator B aircraft available to Spain.

• • •

Much Steel to Paint, Much Wire to Pull: For a short while there were three aircraft carriers moored at Naval Air Station North Island. By now the USS Ronald Reagan has left for Japan and the USS George Washington is off to Norfolk. One of the more permanent fixtures going forward will be the USS Carl Vinson, which returned from deployment in June and entered a 10-month maintenance period Aug. 14. The Vinson is getting $300 million worth of work. Among other things, the crew is getting the CANES computer network on the ship; Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) is the prime contractor on CANES — short for Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services.

Meanwhile, across the bay, the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island reported in early August that it reached the halfway point of its maintenance period, ahead of schedule. General Dynamics NASSCO (NYSE: GD) is prime contractor on the $61.8 million job.

• • •

Missile Defense Deal: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. said on Aug. 31 that a subsidiary recently received a $6.38 million task order related to ballistic missile defense and scientific research.

Kratos did not identify the customer by name. The deal also has three options that could increase the contract’s value as high as $12.02 million.

Kratos (Nasdaq: KTOS)’s Defense & Rocket Support Services division received the contract. The division has an office in Kratos’ corporate headquarters in the University Towne Center area. The business unit supports several technology strategic defense programs and initiatives, including ballistic missile defense, hypersonic vehicles, directed energy systems and the electromagnetic railgun.

• • •

Eye on Australia: Carlsbad-based

ViaSat Inc. has teamed up with Northrop Grumman to provide the Australian Defence Force with what they call a proven solution for using the wideband global SATCOM system. That system is a joint project of the U.S. and Australian governments. ViaSat (Nasdaq: VSAT) is providing dual-band satellite terminals. Financial terms of the deal were unavailable. Also participating is Optus, Australia’s leading commercial satellite provider. … Northrop Grumman said on Aug. 26 that a second Australian company will make parts for its Triton unmanned aircraft, the seagoing version of its Global Hawk. South Australia-based Mincham Aviation will manufacture aircraft structure components for the first low-rate production lot of four Triton air vehicles for the U.S. Navy. The contract follows a July award to Australia’s Ferra Engineering, which will make mechanical subassemblies for U.S. Navy aircraft. The Triton program office is in Rancho Bernardo. Australia plans to buy a fleet of Tritons to monitor the oceans surrounding it; the company has not yet said how many.

• • •

Short Takes: ViaSat also has news about its programmable security-system-on-a-chip. The company just got the OK from the National Security Agency to use it for secure combat voice and data communications up to the Top Secrete level. The company’s KOV-55 chip is “more than just a crypto engine,” ViaSat’s Jerry Goodwin said in a prepared statement. “It provides an entire cryptographic system that includes key management, memory, power conditioning, IP optimization, zeroization, trusted bypass and control.” ViaSat makes advanced radios called Multifunctional Information Distribution System Low-Volume Terminals. Testing was done at the MIDS program office at SPAWAR headquarters. Goodwin is ViaSat’s vice president of secure networking systems. … Cubic Corp. (NYSE: CUB) said on Aug. 31 that it received a $1.3 million contract to deliver a small arms training system and services to the U.S. Army Reserve. Soldiers can practice on Cubic’s Engagement Skills Trainer 3000 unit before going to the shooting range. Cubic calls the arrangement a cost-saver for the Army.

Send San Diego defense contracting news to bradg@sdbj.com.

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