In the 1950s, General Atomics emerged as the nuclear research arm of General Dynamics, one of the world’s largest government contractors. At that time, General Atomics was tasked with “harnessing the power of nuclear technologies for the benefit of mankind.” (Or so their slogan said.) That unit eventually spun out of General Dynamics working on nuclear as well as the earliest versions of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=213912