General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Timeline

Events

• 2026-08-17 - Contract Award - General Atomics wins ₹19.43 billion Indian Navy MQ-9B lease contract - The agreement covers two high-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft for a 30-month term. The aircraft will support maritime domain awareness and persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance across the Indian Ocean region. Reuters… - source: reuters.com
• 2026-08-11 - Contract Award - Marine Corps exercises US$47.36 million MQ-9A support options - The modification covers engineering, logistics, software sustainment, payload integration and airworthiness support. The work supports operational capability for the Marine Corps expeditionary medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned-aircraft programme. - source: war.gov
• 2026-06-17 - Contract Award - GA-ASI receives U.S. Air Force FQ-42A production contract - The initial order starts delivery of production aircraft rather than extending only prototype development. GA-ASI describes FQ-42A as a purpose-built uncrewed combat aircraft developed for collaborative combat missions. GA-ASI disclosed the production award… - source: ga-asi.com
• 2026-05-19 - Demonstration - Saab LoyalEye completes first flight on GA-ASI MQ-9B - Saab said the flight took place on May 19 at GA-ASI Desert Horizon facility in Southern California. The integration pairs Saab LoyalEye radar sensors with the MQ-9B unmanned aircraft. The first flight begins a several-month evaluation phase toward a full… - source: saab.com
• 2026-04-15 - Contract Award - U.S. Army awards GA-ASI contract for Gray Eagle electronic intelligence upgrade - The U.S. Army awarded GA-ASI a contract to add enhanced electronic intelligence capabilities to MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range. The ELINT upgrade supports long-range sensing against integrated air defence systems. The award extends the Gray Eagle UAS… - source: ga.com
• 2026-02-23 - Capability - GA-ASI names YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft Dark Merlin - GA-ASI named its U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft YFQ-42A Dark Merlin. The company said the aircraft had delivered the Air Force's first successful CCA flight in August 2025. GA-ASI also said YFQ-42A completed its first CCA flight using mission… - source: ga.com
• 2026-02-20 - Demonstration - Collins Sidekick flies GA-ASI YFQ-42A autonomously for four hours - Autonomy mode controlled a four-hour flight while a human operator supervised from the ground. The test integrated Sidekick with the YFQ-42A mission systems and paired the uncrewed aircraft with crewed fighters. The flight supported the U.S. Air Force… - source: rtx.com
• 2026-02-12 - Capability - GA-ASI YFQ-42A completes semi-autonomous mission autonomy flight - GA-ASI integrated third-party mission autonomy into the YFQ-42A CCA for a semi-autonomous airborne mission. The flight advanced the company's Collaborative Combat Aircraft autonomy roadmap. - source: ga.com
• 2026-01-20 - Partnership - GA-ASI and Calidus sign MoU to collaborate on MQ-9B and Gambit CCA co-production in UAE - GA-ASI and Calidus Aerospace signed an MoU to collaborate on prospective co-production of MQ-9B and Gambit CCA in the UAE. The MoU also covers command-and-control and battle-management systems. The agreement gives GA-ASI a co-production partnership signal… - source: ga.com
• 2026-01-19 - Partnership - GA-ASI and Barzan Holdings sign MoU for battle management software capabilities - GA-ASI and Barzan Holdings signed an MoU to collaborate on advanced battle management software capabilities. The signing took place during DIMDEX in Doha. The agreement adds a software co-development partnership to GA-ASI command-and-control work. - source: ga.com
• 2025-11-04 - Product Launch - GA-ASI unveils Gambit 6 collaborative combat aircraft variant - GA-ASI introduced Gambit 6 as a Collaborative Combat Aircraft variant adding air-to-ground operations to its air-to-air capability. The product is aimed at international CCA requirements. The launch extends the Gambit family with an uncrewed combat-aircraft… - source: ga.com
• 2025-10-13 - Contract Award - U.S. Army awards GA-ASI contract to add MOSA-EW capability to Gray Eagle UAS - The U.S. Army awarded GA-ASI a contract to add a CMOSS-compliant open architecture electronic warfare capability to Gray Eagle. The work supports C5ISR and electronic warfare integration on the MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS. The award adds an electronic-warfare… - source: ga.com
• 2025-08-27 - Demonstration - GA-ASI begins YFQ-42A CCA flight testing with U.S. Air Force - GA-ASI said the YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft had begun flight testing with the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft is a jet-powered uncrewed platform designed for rapid production in large quantities. This is one of the strongest CCA product milestones for… - source: ga-asi.com
• 2025-06-09 - Contract Award - UK MOD signs Protector RG Mk1 support contract with GA-ASI - The UK Ministry of Defence signed a support and sustainment contract with GA-ASI for Protector RG Mk1. The UK PASS contract covers logistics and maintenance for Protector systems operated by the Royal Air Force. The event adds a service-support contract… - source: ga-asi.com
• 2025-03-03 - Capability - U.S. Air Force designates General Atomics CCA as YFQ-42A - The U.S. Air Force designated General Atomics Collaborative Combat Aircraft as YFQ-42A. The designation identifies a production-representative uncrewed fighter aircraft. - source: af.mil
• 2024-04-24 - Contract Award - U.S. Air Force selects General Atomics and Anduril for Collaborative Combat Aircraft next phase - The U.S. Air Force selected General Atomics and Anduril for the next phase of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme. The phase covers detailed designs, manufacturing and testing of production-representative test vehicles. The selection gives GA-ASI a… - source: reuters.com
• 2024-04-23 - Demonstration - GA-ASI Mojave completes live-fire demonstration in Yuma Desert - GA-ASI confirmed Mojave destroyed static targets in live-fire tests on April 13, 2024. The test validated armed capability for the Mojave UAS demonstrator. - source: ga.com
• 2023-11-17 - Demonstration - GA-ASI demonstrates Mojave STOL UAS operations from HMS Prince of Wales - GA-ASI demonstrated Mojave short takeoff and landing capability from the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. The demonstration took place on November 15, 2023 while the carrier was underway off the U.S. East Coast. - source: ga-asi.com