General Atomics Delivers First New-Build MQ-9A to USMC | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Thu, May 18, 2023

General Atomics Delivers First New-Build MQ-9A to USMC

Fighting the Proxy War

General Atomics is an American energy and defense concern specializing in the research, development, and fielding of technologies germane to nuclear fission and nuclear fusion energy.

The company also produces remotely operated surveillance aircraft, including the ubiquitous MQ-9 Reaper, as well as airborne sensors and advanced electric, electronic, wireless, and laser technologies.

Following delivery of the first two MQ-9A Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) procured upon the successful completion of a Company-Owned Company-Operated (COCO) Deployment Contract, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.(GA-ASI) and the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) are celebrating the 19 April 2023 delivery of the first new-build MQ-9A Extended Range (ER) UAS to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). The delivery is part of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Expeditionary (MUX) Program.

GA-ASI senior vice-president for MQ-9 Systems, Fred Darlington stated: “It’s exciting to make this initial delivery to NAVAIR, which strengthens the relationship between GA-ASI, the USMC, and NAVAIR, while launching the MUX MALE (Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance) program of record from concept into reality.”

In 2022, GA-ASI was selected by the USMC to deliver eight MQ-9A ER UAS as part of the ARES Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (ID/IQ) contract.

The MQ-9A ER is designed with field-retrofittable capabilities such as wing-borne fuel pods and reinforced landing gear, which collectively extend the aircraft’s endurance to more than thirty-hours while further increasing its operational flexibility. The MQ-9A ER provides long-endurance, persistent surveillance capabilities with full-motion video and synthetic aperture radar/moving target indicator/maritime mode radar. An extremely reliable machine, MQ-9A ER is equipped with a fault-tolerant flight-control system and a triple-redundant avionics system architecture. The aircraft, in point of fact, is engineered to meet and exceed extant manned aircraft reliability standards.

FMI: www.ga-asi.com

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Aviat A1

Airplane Bounced About 3 Ft Then Touched Back Down And Then, With No Brakes Applied, The Airplane Began Veering To The Left Analysis: The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.08.25)

Aero Linx: British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) The primary focus within all aviation activity is SAFETY. In all aspects of our sport SAFETY must come first, whether it b>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fly Corvair’s Reliable Engine Alternative

From SnF25 (YouTube Edition): William Wynne Builds Practical Aircraft Engines on the Corvair Platform Seeking an affordable alternative to the traditional aircraft engine options, >[...]

ANN FAQ: Contributing To Aero-TV

How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: CiES Fuel-Quantity and e-Throttle Systems Praised

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Bridge of CiES CiES Inc. is a Bend, Oregon-based designer and manufacturer of modular embedded aircraft systems and sensors. The company’s fuel-l>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC