IDEX 2025: GA-ASI to unveil new exportable small UAS platform in June 2025

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has confirmed an upcoming unveiling of a new exportable small uncrewed aerial system (UAS) product at IDEX in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking to Shephard, following a post on X, C.Mark Brinkley, strategic communications and marketing lead at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, confirmed that the company was working on an “exportable small UAS” as its latest product, with further details to be unveiled in full at the Paris Air Show in June.

“This is something we’ve been working on for a while,” he confirmed. “It’s real.” GA-ASI has worked on a number of air-launched effect platforms in the past, notably and most recently its Eaglet which launched in 2023. It also demonstrated an inflight release of its Advanced Air-Launched Effects ( A2LE) platform an MQ-20 Avenger in November 2023.

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This platform could be similar, such as another ALE, although Brinkley did not specify whether the new UAS would be air-launched or ground-based.

While finer details on what the small exportable UAS would look like, such as height, weight class, payload and range, were not disclosed, Brinkley said that the UAS would likely be fixed around one size class that has the “right amount of SWAP” and marketed specifically as an exportable product.

“Exportability, being able to integrate purchasing nation tech, it’s always been a challenge,” he remarked. “I think this current administration is looking for ways to break some of those stove pipes, and this is absolutely one.

“The novel part of it is opening the door for purchasing nations to be able to bring some of their own systems and subsystems, radars, sensors [to the product],” Brinkley explained.

The new UAS product is being designed, in some part, to tackle the perennial issue of affordable combat mass in air forces’ fleets. 

“A lot of nations could see the value in a fleet of small UAS, that they could have some amount of measure of indigenous control and effort. Something that’s purpose built to give flexibility to the international market,” Brinkley  concluded. 

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