GA-ASI and SMX Join Forces to Secure ARIES Contract and Enhance AFRICOM Operations

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and its MQ-9A Remotely Piloted Aircraft will persist in assisting principal contractor SMX, who has recently secured a task order to deliver U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) missions and intelligence analysis operations. GA-ASI stands as a prominent subcontractor to SMX for the AFRICOM Reconnaissance Intelligence Exploitation Services (ARIES) task order, estimated at $2.3 billion (including option periods).

The newly granted award encompasses a seven-year performance timeline, allowing SMX and its collaborative partners to prolong their support until 2029 if all option periods are utilized. This agreement will encompass ongoing ISR services for AFRICOM, utilizing six MQ-9As manufactured by GA-ASI, organized into three configurations with two aircraft each. The MQ-9As are provided by GA-ASI under a Company-Owned, Company-Operated (COCO) lease contract. GA-ASI holds the title of the globe’s foremost producer of RPA systems, radar technologies, and electro-optic as well as associated mission systems solutions. SMX is a frontrunner in Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR).

ARIES, akin to its predecessor task order, represents a sophisticated, multi-tenant initiative delivering state-of-the-art full lifecycle intelligence solutions through cloud-facilitated data insights and decision analytics. The goal of ARIES is to enhance the United States’ capacity to observe, orient, decide, and act more swiftly and effectively on the insights provided through a groundbreaking intelligence collection and dissemination ecosystem.

“It’s thrilling to continue collaborating with SMX and sustaining our support for AFRICOM,” stated Senior Vice President for MQ-9 Systems, Fred Darlington. “I attribute our achievement in securing the ARIES subcontract to the exceptional efforts our team has rendered over the past three years on the continent.”