GA-ASI will showcase maritime surveillance and airspace integration for the MQ-9 Guardian RPA. Credit: General Atomics.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) will demonstrate the maritime surveillance capabilities of its MQ-9 Guardian remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) for European nations next month.

GA-ASI is planning to undertake a series of demonstration flights using a GA-ASI MQ-9 Guardian RPA and a detect and avoid (DAA) system.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

The company is working with the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) to conduct flights from the Greek airbase of Larissa.

The DAA system is designed to provide the RPA with a collision avoidance capability in civil airspace.

GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue said: “We appreciate the HAF’s support in helping showcase the maritime surveillance and civil airspace integration capabilities of our unmanned aircraft in Europe.

“The demand for affordable, long-endurance airborne surveillance of the seas surrounding Europe is growing.”

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

The unmanned system that will participate in the demonstration is based on the MQ-9 operated by the US Department of Homeland Security for maritime surveillance operation.

The MQ-9’s DAA system features the Due Regard Radar (DRR), which is an air-to-air radar containing a two-panel active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna and a radar electronics assembly (REA).

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) are responsible for the detection of aircraft.

GA-ASI stated that the demonstration will also include the Raytheon SeaVue multi-mode maritime surface-search radar with Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) mode.

The RPA will also be equipped with an automatic identification system (AIS) receiver and optical and infrared cameras.

The sensor suite can help aircraft detect surface vessels over a vast maritime area.

GA-ASI has selected SES to provide geostationary orbit satellite connectivity for the MQ-9.

Airforce Technology Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Airforce Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.


Excellence in Action
Discover how Virtualitics is transforming mission readiness with explainable AI, predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision intelligence across the U.S. Department of Defense through its AI-powered Integrated Readiness Optimization suite, for which it has won the Innovation and Business Expansion awards.

Discover the Impact