General Atomics

General Atomics is a privately held American energy and defense company based in San Diego, California, that works on nuclear energy, unmanned aircraft and electromagnetic systems. It was founded on 18 July 1955 as a division of General Dynamics to harness nuclear technology, and its first projects were the TRIGA research reactor and Project Orion. It later passed through Gulf Oil, Shell, Chevron and, in 1986, a company owned by Neal and Linden Blue. The group runs the DIII-D fusion tokamak, supplies laser fusion research hardware and builds the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System for the United States Navy. Through its aeronautical affiliate it makes the MQ-1 Predator, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-20 Avenger drones.