Exelis has been awarded a $20.6-million contract by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of Poway, California, to produce the BRU-71/A ejector rack for the Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper remotely-piloted aircraft.

Under the contract, Exelis will produce more than 500 BRU-71/A units for deployment on US Air Force MQ-9s. The BRU-71/A is a pneumatic carriage and release system employing compressed air instead of electro-explosive charges to deploy payloads. This technology reduces overall system maintenance and life-cycle costs.

“The BRU-71/A delivers an advanced, high-performance airborne carriage and release capability,” said Pete Martin, Director of Defense Systems for the Exelis electronic attack and release systems business area. “It is also one-third the weight of existing ejector racks in its class, a critical factor in the performance and endurance of unmanned platforms.”