New MQ-9B SkyGuardian®/SeaGuardian models add over 4,000 hours
San Diego – July 14, 2023 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) today announced its family of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), including the Predator®, Reaper, Gray Eagle, Avenger®, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian®/SeaGuardian® lines. , the flight time exceeded 8 million hours. GA-ASI aircraft have completed a total of 566,000 missions in approximately 40 countries around the world.
The total is joined by 13 MQ-9B SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian UASs that have flown more than 4,000 flight hours, including the new Protector RG Mk1 delivered to the Royal Air Force. The first three of his protectors are currently undergoing integration testing, evaluation, and acceptance testing. Additionally, the MQ-9B is operated by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in support of various U.S. Navy exercises.
“GA-ASI continues to be a leader in the development of highly operational, reliable, cost-effective and sustainable unmanned aircraft systems for our customers around the world,” said GA-ASI CEO. said Linden P. Blue. “Eight million flight hours is another achievement on our historic firsts list and demonstrates our continued commitment to quality.”
Although the exact aircraft and customers achieving this milestone are unknown, it is estimated that more than 50 Predator-class Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) RPAs are flying around the world at every moment of every day.
GA-ASI aircraft operate an average of 40,000 hours per month, serving the United States Air Force, United States Army, United States Marine Corps, NASA, Italian Air Force, Royal Air Force, French Air Force, United Arab Emirates, Spanish Air Force, Royal Dutch Air Force, Indian Navy, and Polish Air Force. , Japan Coast Guard, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and more, with more customers expected to come online soon. Missions include helping protect ground forces on the battlefield, assisting first responders during natural disasters, and providing critical ISR around the world. These aircraft systems continue to have the highest mission capability rates in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army aircraft inventories.
GA-ASI has manufactured more than 1,000 aircraft and nearly 500 Ground Control Stations (GCS) over more than 30 years of business. In addition to UAS and GCS, GA-ASI produces processing, exploitation, and dispersion (PED) systems and sensor payloads that deliver radar and video imagery, detect moving targets on land and water, and provide signals intelligence. (SIGINT) ) about the signal of interest. GA-ASI has also developed detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems to facilitate the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems into civil airspace as well as combat environments.
The Predator Series family includes Predator A and Predator XP, Predator B/MQ-9A Reaper, Predator B Extended Range (ER), Guardian, Gray Eagle, Gray Eagle ER, Predator C Avenger/ER, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian/ Includes Sea Guardian. .
About GA-ASI
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, provides proven and reliable remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) systems, radar, electro-optical and related missions. – A leading system designer and manufacturer. Predator® RPA Series and Lynx® Multimode Radar. With 8 million flight hours across the Predator series, GA-ASI is a long-endurance mission with the integrated sensor and datalink systems needed to achieve sustained flight that enables situational awareness and rapid attack. Provides possible aircraft. The company also manufactures a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, provides pilot training and support services, and develops metamaterial antennas.
For more information, please visit: ga-asi.com 
Avenger, Lynx, Predator, SeaGuardian, and SkyGuardian are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
