General Atomics Developing New Missile Threat Detection Capability for MQ-9A Drone

General Atomics is working with the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to develop a new Airborne Battlespace Awareness and Defense (ABAD) pod for the MQ-9A Block 5 drone.

It will be equipped on MQ-9A Block 5 Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance Tactical (MALET) Extended Range Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) being operated by the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). ABAD will provide detection and protection against Radio Frequency (RF) and Infrared (IR) threats.

The first phase of contract work evaluated suitable RF Electronic Warfare (EW) and IR countermeasures systems. This led to the down selection of a next-generation software-defined radio-based EW system from BAE Systems and the AN/AAQ-45 Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasure System (DAIRCM) from Leonardo DRS.

Work is underway on an engineering and test effort to mature the capability as a podded payload capable of operation on the MQ-9A aircraft in 2025.