General Atomics plays its gambit for OBSS
Rendering of the Gambit UAV in flight. (Image: GA-ASI)
The new Gambit UAV is General Atomics’ proposed solution for the USAF Off Board Sensing Station programme.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) on 3 March unveiled its Gambit UAV as a candidate solution for the USAF’s Off Board Sensing Station (OBSS) manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) programme.
The announcement followed a $17.79 million contract from the USAF in October 2021 for the R&D phase of OBSS, in which GA-ASI is competing against Kratos.
Both firms are due to complete work on the baseline contract by 31 October 2022, but if the option is exercised, a subsequent technical effort will last until 31 January 2024.
GA-ASI president David Alexander claimed that Gambit will ‘usher in a new era, where UAS work collaboratively with manned aircraft to detect, identify and target adversaries at range and scale across the battlespace’.
The company released a statement describing the jet-powered Gambit as an ‘Autonomous Collaborative Platform’, adding that the UAV was designed digital engineering ‘to speed its time to market and lower acquisition cost’.
The OBSS programme aims to harness AI and autonomous systems to deliver an extended and enhanced ISR capability for the USAF, blended with an attritable offensive weapons capability.
If the MUM-T programme matures to the contract award phase, Shephard Defence Insight forecasts a $267 million contract in 2024 for 82 units to be delivered between 2025 and 2031.
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