April 15, 2016 / 12:10 PM / Updated April 15, 2016 at 12:30 PM

General Atomics awarded dual drone contracts

Drone maker General Atomics two engineering contracts to maintain the U.S. Army's MQ-1C Gray Eagle and conduct research on the service's unmanned fleet. Pictured, a MQ-1 Predator assigned to the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing is in flight over the Southern California Logistics Airport, formerly George Air Force Base, in Victorville, Calif., Jan. 7, 2012. U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Effrain Lopez

Drone maker General Atomics two engineering contracts to maintain the U.S. Army's MQ-1C Gray Eagle and conduct research on the service's unmanned fleet. Pictured, a MQ-1 Predator assigned to the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing is in flight over the Southern California Logistics Airport, formerly George Air Force Base, in Victorville, Calif., Jan. 7, 2012. U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Effrain Lopez

WASHINGTON, April 15 (UPI) -- General Atomics has been awarded two separate engineering contracts to maintain the U.S. Army's MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft.

Under the first contract awarded on Thursday, the company will receive $9.4 million for "engineering services" tied to maintenance and sustainment of the MQ-1C Gray Eagle, according to a Defense Department announcement

The second $8.07 million contract will cover engineering work tied to research, development and testing of the U.S. Army's unmanned aircraft systems, the announcement says. Both the MQ-1C Gray Eagle maintenance work and the unmanned aircraft research and development work will take place at the company's engineering facility in Poway, Calif.

Engineering work on both contracts is expected to wrap up by April 2017, according to the announcements.

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