An artist's rendering of General Atomics' Wildfire drone. (General Atomics photo)
WASHINGTON — Drone maker General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) formally revealed today its offering to replace the firm’s hunter-killer MQ-9A Reaper with a clean-sheet design the company claims can be rapidly produced and exceed the Pentagon’s targets.
General Atomics says the new drone, dubbed Wildfire, can take on missions traditionally fulfilled by the Reaper like long-endurance reconnaissance and strike. Outside of conflict, the company is pitching the aircraft for civil roles and asserts the unmanned system’s relatively greater payload combined with “stronger hardpoints” permits “new options” for tasks like shuttling commercial cargo.
“This is exactly the right design for high-demand missions and cost-conscious customers,” GA-ASI President David Alexander said in a company press release. “Our tailor-designed, attrition-tolerant Wildfire balances the high capability our aircraft are known for with huge flexibility and great scalability. There’s never been anything like it before.”
The firm is pitching Wildfire for the Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA) program, which was launched by the Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit in July to find a successor for the Reaper. Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, the Air Force’s chief modernization officer, told reporters recently that the program was accelerated following “concerning” losses of the Reaper in combat operations against Iran, and emphasized the goal is to replace the venerable drone with a new system that’s cheaper and attritable.
