Based on its recent analysis of the U.S. unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) market, Frost & Sullivan has presented General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) with the 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Company of the Year for its exceptional display of leadership and innovation.

GA-ASI designs, manufactures, and sells UASs and also manufactures ground control stations (GCSs), Lynx Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI) and sensor systems, and provides field operations support for customer aircraft.

When GA-ASI's Predator UAS took its maiden flight in 1994, it started a revolution that changed the way wars will be fought for years to come. Today, the series has logged more than 600,000 flight hours with more than 85 percent of those hours flown in combat. While there are many UAS providers and subsystems suppliers, GA-ASI provides among the most predominant and effective unmanned aircraft currently in-theatre. As of September 2008, GA-ASI has produced more than 300 Predator-series aircraft, including the venerable Predator A, its larger cousin Predator B (also known by the U.S. Air Force as MQ-9 Reaper, and the Army's Sky Warrior based on the Predator and I-GNAT ER platforms.