General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) began construction on 14 January of a new hangar at El Mirage Airfield in California, adjacent to its existing Desert Horizon Flight Operations Facility in the Southern California high desert.
GA-ASI plans to build nearly 85,000 square feet of new hangar space that will house and test GA-ASI’s latest Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), the MQ-9B SkyGuardian®/SeaGuardian®. As part of the new construction, GA-ASI expects to dedicate space to support as many as a dozen new Certifiable Ground Control Station (CGCS), which are used to operate the RPA.
The groundbreaking event featured GA-ASI team members, as well as local dignitaries. Speakers included GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue, San Bernardino County Supervisor, Second District Jesse Armendarez, and Parkway Construction CEO Ryan Elmer. Parkway is leading the construction of the new hangar.
GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue, commented, “Breaking ground on a new facility is always an exciting day for our company. We continue to fill our order book for new MQ-9Bs, which represent the latest in RPA technology, so it’s important that we have the right team and facilities in place to build and test these important aircraft.”
Nations across the world continue ordering the class-leading MQ-9B, from the United Kingdom to Canada to several others. Last week, Germany became the latest with the purchase of eight SeaGuardians.
In addition to supporting RPA and CGCS development, the new hangar will feature three aircraft launch pads and four new gate terminals.
