Aviation News Daily reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and the U.S. Air Force have successfully completed a groundbreaking autonomy flight exercise, demonstrating critical new capabilities for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The test proves that uncrewed jets can now coordinate complex combat behaviors autonomously, marking a major leap in the integration of AI-driven wingmen for future air warfare.”
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Tag: General Atomics
General Atomics Names YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft ‘Dark Merlin’
Aviation Week reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) announced Feb. 23 that its collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) has a name: the Dark Merlin. The GA-ASI YFQ-42A is one of two CCAs being developed for the U.S. Air Force’s first increment of its program, along with the Anduril YFA-44A. After first flights in 2025, both of the prototypes now await a potential production award in 2026.”
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Video
The YFQ-42A drone by General Atomics
(Techno Thunder; YouTube)
General Atomics’ LongShot Air Combat Drone Officially Named X-68A
Aviation Week reports, “An air-launched missile-carrying uncrewed aircraft developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for DARPA’s LongShot project has been designated the X-68A ahead of flight tests expected by year-end. The LongShot is designed to be carried by fighters and bombers, or as a palletized munition on airlifters, and launched to fly ahead and engage targets with its own internally carried air-to-air missiles. The goal is to increase launch platform survivability and extend combat reach.”
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F-22 Teams with Avenger Drone in Human-Machine Flight Test
Defense News reports, “The pilot of a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighter successfully maneuvered an MQ-20 Avenger unmanned jet during a demonstration of human-machine flight cooperation in an Oct. 21 flight test, according to drone maker General Atomics.”
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GA-ASI Partners with Saab to Enhance AEW&C System Performance on MQ-9B
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and Saab have partnered to integrate an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system onto GA-ASI’s MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft. To validate the new capability, flight demonstrations are planned for 2026. GA-ASI’s MQ-9B line includes the SkyGuardian® and SeaGuardian® models, the United Kingdom’s Protector, and the new MQ-9B STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) model currently in development.”
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USMC Receives Extended Range MQ-9A RPAS from General Atomics
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has delivered an MQ-9A Reaper® Block 5 Extended Range (ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). The aircraft was officially handed over on April 22, 2025, and is now assigned to Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VMX-1), located at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona.”
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Gray Eagle UAS Performs First Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Flights
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has conducted its first flight test series of the Gray Eagle® Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) using a Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) satellite constellation for aircraft communications. Contracted by the U.S. Army, the flight tests began in January 2025 and mark a significant milestone, reportedly making GE-ER the first long-endurance U.S. Army aircraft to be controlled over the new satellite service. Gray Eagle is also the only U.S. Army UAS capable of leveraging Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and PLEO constellations for secure, inflight adaptable and resilient communication, navigation and data management.”
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General Atomics Demonstrates MQ-20 Avenger UCAV’s Autonomous Flight Capabilities
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has flown U.S. government-provided autonomy software onboard a company-owned MQ-20 Avenger® unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) during the Air Force Test Center’s Orange Flag 25-1 all-domain test series. A government-provided Pilot Vehicle Interface (PVI) was fitted aboard an Avenger jet-powered UCAV in the demonstration which took place February 19-21 at Edwards Air Force Base, California. GA-ASI also demonstrated the ability to rapidly swap between autonomy systems midflight over Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) satellites utilizing an autonomy product from Shield AI.”
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General Atomics Preparing for Massive MQ-9B Sale to Saudi Arabia
Defense News reports, “General Atomics is preparing to offer a package deal to Saudi Arabia to acquire a number of MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, company executives said in an interview at the IDEX arms fair in Abu Dhabi. “We are still in the very early stages but are pursuing this hard as there is a huge interest coming from Saudi regarding the MQ-9B — we expect they have significant requirements [for these drones] that could result in many of tens of thousands of jobs in the U.S. if we were to close that sale,” Dave Alexander, president of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, told Defense News.”
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General Atomics to Reveal New ‘Super Wide Area’ Sensor for ‘Iron Dome for America’
Breaking Defense reports, “General Atomics is ready to step in the ring to compete for contracts to build President Donald Trump’s ‘Iron Dome for America’ with a new technology the company believes can radically contain the costs of the project, the head of General Atomics’ aeronautics unit said. The special sauce, Dave Alexander told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview, is a long-range, high resolution sensor that has been under development for about a decade, has a “super wide area” of coverage, and is ready for production.”
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