The subcontract, announced Nov. 4, covers precision-machined parts and cable assemblies supporting the Army’s Dark Eagle and the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike programs. Both programs use the shared glide body for weapons designed to strike time-sensitive, heavily defended targets at long range.
Leidos’ Army contract combines the glide-body and Thermal Protection System programs, bringing research, development and production into one acquisition effort. The arrangement is intended to streamline development and accelerate delivery of land- and sea-based conventional strike capabilities.
“Our continued collaboration with Leidos reinforces our role as a trusted source of high-quality critical components for hypersonic weapons,” said Scott Forney, president of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, known as GA-EMS. “This agreement carries forward our prototype manufacturing and flight-test experience into component production through 2031, supporting the fielding of Army and Navy long-range strike capabilities for demanding national security missions.”
GA-EMS previously manufactured prototype glide-body subassemblies and supplied hardware and cables for the successful 2020 Common Hypersonic Glide Body flight test. It will use its established workforce and manufacturing resources to carry out the new work.
Production will draw on specialized equipment and high-volume machining capabilities, with testing and inspection to verify that components meet design specifications and quality requirements. The work includes electrical assemblies as well as machined metal parts and structural components.
“Our expertise spans cable assemblies for the Elevon Control Module and hypersonic glide body, along with precision-machined metal parts and substructures,” said Mike Rucker, vice president of GA-EMS Weapons Programs. “For our customer, this combination brings continuity across electrical and mechanical manufacturing from a team familiar with the program’s exacting requirements.”
