General Atomics Drone System to Help Spain Amid New US Drone Policy

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US defense company General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and the Spanish engineering company SENER reached a teaming agreement to use the multi-mission Predator B drones to help Spain’s airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, General Atomics announced in a statement.

“GA-ASI is fully committed to working with Spanish industry [SENER], as we believe this program’s success requires local industry partnerships that provide collaborative innovation in enhancing the capabilities of Predator B for the Spanish government,” the statement, issued on Monday, said.

The Predator B drone will fly over one million hours and provide the Spanish government with situations awareness, safeguard borders and maritime approaches, support military missions globally and save lives in nature disaster-affected areas, the statement said.

However, the new US policy on selling drones requires recipient nations to abide by end-use guidelines before a sale or transfer is authorized, according to an earlier US Department of State statement. The deal between GA-ASI and SENER will have to follow the new guidelines put in place by the US Department of State.

GA-ASI is a designer and manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems providing pilot training, support operations for RPA field operations, sensor payloads, software for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft platforms, and the development of high-energy lasers, electro-optic sensors, and meta-material antennas, the statement said.