GA-ASI Gambit

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breakingdefense.com

General Atomics debuts 'Gambit' drone for Air Force's unmanned sensor contest - Breaking Defense

Gambit will be General Atomics' entrant for the Air Force's Off-Board Sensing System program, a source with knowledge of the program told Breaking Defense exclusively.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
https://twitter.com/x/status/1499204727438987266
View: https://twitter.com/IntelWalrus/status/1499204727438987266

www.ga-asi.com

GA-ASI Introduces Gambit

Gambit is an Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) designed through digital engineering to speed its time to market and lower acquisition cost, and it will deliver an extended and enhanced sensing capability. The jet-powered platform is being built for air dominance and will heavily leverage...
www.ga-asi.com
 
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Week-Old News, but it seems like General Atomics has made a "3D-Printing agreement" with commercial automotive company and 3D-Printing firm Divergent Technologies to create 3D-printing technology that can be easily deployed, and then print Unmanned Air System drones at a much faster pace, for an overall cheaper cost. Might be related to the Gambit program as a whole.
breakingdefense.com

General Atomics signs 3D printing agreement with automotive-focused startup Divergent - Breaking Defense

For something like a small UAS, “instead of taking years to develop [a design] it takes months, and instead of taking weeks to manufacture by laying out carbon fiber, we take hours to assemble," Divergent CEO Kevin Czinger told Breaking Defense.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
 
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Why am I imaging a large ship with a hold full of drone cores (engine and auto-pilot) and a 3D printer?
Depending upon today's mission, they might 3D print a recce airframe around that core, but tomorrow they might 3D print a bomb-carrying attack airframe around an identical core. Late in the process they fine-tune the software to match the airframe. The latest software can be e-mailed to the far side of the planet in a matter of minutes.
That way prototypes can be flown discretely - back in the mountains of Northern Nevada - but never flown outside the Continental USA until they are fired in danger for the first time.

... similar to the way that the Royal Navy transmitted the latest Sidewinder software to Sea Harriers that were already at sea aboard an aircraft carrier sailing towards the Falklands (1982).
 
riggerrob said:
Why am I imaging a large ship with a hold full of drone cores (engine and auto-pilot) and a 3D printer?
Depending upon today's mission, they might 3D print a recce airframe around that core, but tomorrow they might 3D print a bomb-carrying attack airframe around an identical core. Late in the process they fine-tune the software to match the airframe. The latest software can be e-mailed to the far side of the planet in a matter of minutes.
That way prototypes can be flown discretely - back in the mountains of Northern Nevada - but never flown outside the Continental USA until they are fired in danger for the first time.

... similar to the way that the Royal Navy transmitted the latest Sidewinder software to Sea Harriers that were already at sea aboard an aircraft carrier sailing towards the Falklands (1982).
Click to expand...
It might not just be on ships, but it could also be set up on the ground for land conflicts
 

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……Waaat？

GA-ASI Plans To Fly Large UCAV Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

A stealthy flying wing aircraft powered by a hybrid diesel-electric engine will be built and flown by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. by 2026.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com

“…….
GA-ASI intends to self-fund the Gambit 4 prototype through initial flight testing, then use the results to search for external funding sources, Alexander said.

The Gambit 4 proposes an advanced new propulsion system, with the Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE) 2.0 as the basis for the prime mover of electric thrusters. The HFE itself is derived from the Thielert Centurion, an aircraft propulsion variant of the Mercedes-Benz OM668 automotive engine.

The 400-hp HFE 2.0 will deliver about 360 kW of power to electric motors, with a pair of 50-kW boosters available for takeoff power and payloads. ”
 
flateric said:
www.ga-asi.com

GA-ASI's Gambit Series: The Future of Collaborative Combat Aircraft

The U.S. Air Force boasts the finest combat aircraft and pilots in the world, but even they are going to need help preserving air dominance in the coming decades.
www.ga-asi.com
Click to expand...
That's fascinating! Using a lower fuselage pallet that holds all the common bits, and then dropping a mission-specific outer airframe on it is a brilliant idea.

raptor82 said:
……Waaat？

GA-ASI Plans To Fly Large UCAV Demonstrator | Aviation Week Network

A stealthy flying wing aircraft powered by a hybrid diesel-electric engine will be built and flown by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. by 2026.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com

“…….
GA-ASI intends to self-fund the Gambit 4 prototype through initial flight testing, then use the results to search for external funding sources, Alexander said.

The Gambit 4 proposes an advanced new propulsion system, with the Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE) 2.0 as the basis for the prime mover of electric thrusters. The HFE itself is derived from the Thielert Centurion, an aircraft propulsion variant of the Mercedes-Benz OM668 automotive engine.

The 400-hp HFE 2.0 will deliver about 360 kW of power to electric motors, with a pair of 50-kW boosters available for takeoff power and payloads. ”
Click to expand...
So, electric ducted fans? Large RC planes have been using ducted fans for decades, but having a 400hp diesel engine providing electric power for them is new.
 
Of a CO note Gambit 4 on renderings (ex-MQ-NEXT or whatever you call it) has significant differences from Gambit 4 on sketches. As well as hybrid powerplant powered 'MQ-NEXT' from jet powered one. We'd expect massive pieholes.
 

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