California based, GA-ASI (General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Incorporation) has reportedly announced partnering with Conflux Technology for the production of a heat exchanger. It has been reported that the heat exchanger is being produced via a metal Additive Manufacturing process for integration onto GA-ASI’s portfolio of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).

For the uninitiated, Conflux Technology stands as an AM applications company that is currently based out in Victoria. The company holds its expertise in thermal and fluid engineering and as per official sources, it has been offering design expertise in the optimization of AM heat exchangers to augment the performance of remotely piloted aircrafts.

Commenting on the partnership, Linden Blue, CEO of GA-ASI, reportedly cited that both the companies, GA-ASI and Conflux, are closely working for the development of novel and state-of-the-art thermal solutions for applications in its current and next-gen RPAS. He also adds that this partnership would allow enhanced endurance and reduce the production costs along with offering more flexibility in the company’s integration and product design.

On the other hand, the CEO of Conflux Technology, Michael Fuller stated that the company’s heat exchangers have derived their performance from highly complex geometries based out of AM. He further added that the Conflux’s team of engineers and scientists would now work towards the development of heat exchange applications for improvement of fundamental efficiencies for the partner company’s RPA systems. According to official sources, Conflux constitutes of a highly innovative engineering team that balances first principles of thermo-fluid dynamics with design creativity along with AM process expertise.

In line with this, it has been reported that the Australian Government had recently nominated its partnering company’s MQ-9B SkyGuardian variant in lieu of offering Armed RPAS for the Australian Defense Force under the Project AIR 7003. The fundamental reason behind opting MQ-9 was its ability to back ad-hoc communications networks, multi-role combat performance, and interoperability with vivid allies. Moreover, the MQ-9B follows the legacy of GA-ASI’s Predator series of RPA Systems.

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