General Atomics is unveiling a new drone Thursday as its submission for the Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) contract it clinched last year, Breaking Defense revealed.
Named “Gambit,” the drone will be unveiled at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. according to the outlet.
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) awarded identical $17.7 million OBSS contracts to Kratos and General Atomics in October. The 12-month contracts may be extended to 15 months with an additional $31.4 million for each firm.
Features
The AFRL describes the OBSS aircraft as inexpensive, modular, and attritable, as it is “designed for limited life in terms of years, not decades, with no depot maintenance and limited field maintenance considerations.”
The unmanned aircraft will have a high level of autonomy and sensor suite, allowing it to fly “beyond the line of sight” and share targeting data.
Weapons Bay Extension
The drone will also carry offensive weapons that function as a weapons bay extension of manned aircraft.
The aircraft resembles a piloted aircraft more than other General Atomics unmanned platforms such as the MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1C Gray Eagle, Breaking Defense quoted General Atomics President David Alexander as saying.
