The verified answer
As of Oct 2026, DEPLOY verifies General Atomics Aeronautical Systems: 2 models, 16 deployments across 13 regions, 3 active incidents. 4 sources back the record.
CategoryDrones
Appears inMilitary & defense drones
Overview
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) is a military contractor and subsidiary of General Atomics that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles and radar systems for the U.S. military and commercial applications worldwide. Best known for the MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator drone families, the company is San Diego County's largest defense contractor with approximately 15,000 employees and .2 billion in annual revenue.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 16 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- 3 incidents on file
Key facts
Product
CEO
President
Parent
Revenue
Employees
Autonomy
Data & sources
Press releases
1
Web sources
3
4 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (2)
View all models →Previous platform
MQ-9 Reaper
Medium-altitude long-endurance armed UAV. 27-hour endurance, 3,800 lb payload, Hellfire missiles and precision bombs. Primary US armed drone for ISR and strike missions.
Current platform
MQ-9 Reaper
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the privately held San Diego incumbent behind the Predator lineage, makes the MQ-9 Reaper, the canonical legacy medium-altitude long-endurance remotely-piloted aircraft against which the AI-first new-defense wave is contrasted. The MQ-9A first flew on February 2, 2001 and entered service in May 2007; it is flown by a crew of a pilot, a sensor operator, and a mission-intelligence coordinator at a ground control station, with roughly thirty hours of ISR endurance, a 3,800-pound payload, and Hellfire missiles and laser- and GPS-guided bombs. As of 2026 some 575 have been built, with the US Air Force operating about 158 active plus 24 Air National Guard aircraft at the end of fiscal 2025 and the Marine Corps receiving its final MQ-9A in June 2025, alongside operators including the UK, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Critically and honestly, the Reaper is remotely piloted, not autonomous: humans retain flight control and all weapons decisions, with automatic takeoff, landing, and threat-tracking as assistance features, and the newer Quadratix software introduced in March 2025 adds AI and autonomy for single-operator multi-sensor ISR on the MQ-9B but remains operator-controlled rather than an autonomous kill chain, so the word drone should not imply AI-autonomy here. A lifecycle nuance worth recording: the MQ-9A production line closed in 2025 after the Air Force declined further buys, while the longer-endurance MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian, operated by the UK as Protector RG Mk1 and contracted to Taiwan and Germany, are the active in-production successor, so this single record spans a mature, sunsetting platform and its in-production replacement.
Partnerships
Every company General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1US Air Force2× joint
- 2Anduril Industries1× joint9 total
- 3U.S. Air Force1× joint
Most recent
- General Atomics x US Air Force CCA2026-06-17with US Air Forceoperating
- with Anduril Industriesoperating
- with US Air Forceoperating
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems on the deployment map
View the global map16 verified deployments across 13 regions, newest verified Sep 2025. Explore where General Atomics Aeronautical Systems's robots are operating, by place and type.
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea →East Asia · verified Sep 2025
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at Global →International · verified Jun 2024
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at Creech Air Force Base →verified Jun 2024
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina →Southeast · verified Aug 2023
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at Andersen AFB, Guam →verified Jan 2023
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at 12th Air Base, Poland →Central Europe · verified Aug 2022
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at 71st Air Base, Romania →Western Europe · verified Feb 2021
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at INS Rajali, Tamil Nadu, India →South Asia · verified Nov 2020
- endedMQ-9 Reaper at Niger →verified Jul 2018
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at Cognac Air Base, France →Western Europe · verified Jan 2014
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at United Kingdom (RAF Waddington) →Western Europe · verified Apr 2013
- operationalMQ-9 Reaper at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, USA →Southwest · verified Oct 2009
View the full General Atomics Aeronautical Systems deployment record →
Relationships
Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
What is an autonomous drone?
What is the MQ-9 Reaper?
Current leadership (3)
- Linden S. Blue CEOreported, not verified
- Dave R. Alexander Presidentreported, not verified
- J. Neal Blue Chairman & CEO of General Atomicsreported, not verified
Safety record
3 incidents on record (1 critical, 1 serious, 1 moderate). Most recent: Apr 2026.
Most recent: Apr 2026
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Incidents affecting General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (3)
- General Atomics CCA drone prototype crashes during test flight2026-04-07 · Malfunction
Includes incidents linked directly to this company, to its models, or to deployments of its models or under its operation. Retracted incidents are excluded from this view but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Operator customers (1)
- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems16 deployments
Recent coverage
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in third-party press
Peers
97 peers across 1 segment. Every General Atomics Aeronautical Systems competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
drone(97)
57 companies in this segment · moderately_concentrated (HHI 1809.2177305910177) · leader Anduril Industries at 3057%
- AEVEX Aerospacedirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- ATL Global Holding AGdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Aereodirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AeroVironmentdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AgXeeddirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AirForestrydirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Mentioned on (20)
Registry pages whose text names General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.
Companies (3)
Robots and products (1)
Deployments (9)
MQ-9 Reaper at United States Air Force (global operations), MQ-9 Reaper at Creech Air Force Base, MQ-9 Reaper at Poway, MQ-9 Reaper at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, USA, MQ-9 Reaper at Andersen AFB, Guam, MQ-9 Reaper at Global, MQ-9 Reaper at Niger, MQ-9 Reaper at United States, MQ-9 Reaper at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea
People (4)
Linden S. Blue, J. Neal Blue, Dave R. Alexander, David Alexander
Financial state
- Employees
- 15,000as of 2025-12-31(reported)
- Reporting basis
- aggregator_estimate
- Lifecycle stage
- mature
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
3 total · 3 operating
Every company General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- General Atomics x US Air Force CCA2026-06-17with US Air Forceoperating
- with Anduril Industriesoperating
- with US Air Forceoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1US Air Force2× joint
- 2Anduril Industries1× joint9 total
- 3U.S. Air Force1× joint
All 3 partnerships
open in the atlas →- General Atomics x US Air Force CCAwithUS Air Forcedeployment2026-06-17operating
- deployment2026-06-17operating
- GA-ASI x US Air Force FQ-42A CCA ProductionwithUS Air Forcedeployment2026-06-15operating
Timeline
Every recorded move in General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
PartnershipGeneral Atomics x US Air Force CCA
2026-06-17US Air Force awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a production contract for FQ-42A CCA drone wingman. Part of the first CCA production lot alongside Anduril.
PartnershipAnduril x General Atomics x US Air Force CCA Production
2026-06-17The U.S. Air Force selected Anduril and General Atomics for the production phase of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. Anduril will produce the FQ-42A and General Atomics the FQ-44A. Shield AI and Collins Aerospace also received contracts for mission autonomy software.
PartnershipGA-ASI x US Air Force FQ-42A CCA Production
2026-06-15US Air Force awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems production contract for FQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJul 26, 2026
MQ-9 Reaper photo
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
MQ-9B SkyGuardian airborne early warning missions
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
General Atomics MQ-9B SeaGuardian
- Record createdJun 3, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Incident recordedApr 7, 2026
General Atomics CCA drone prototype crashes during test flight
Sources (4)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper
- https://www.airandspaceforces.com/abrupt-end-to-mq-9-production-surprises-general-atomics/
- https://www.ga-asi.com/remotely-piloted-aircraft/mq-9b-skyguardian
- https://www.defenseadvancement.com/feature/quadratix-unified-software-ecosystem-from-general-atomics/
Common questions
What is General Atomics Aeronautical Systems?
What does General Atomics Aeronautical Systems make?
Is General Atomics Aeronautical Systems publicly traded?
Who competes with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems?
Who is the CEO of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems?
How can I invest in General Atomics Aeronautical Systems?
Where is General Atomics Aeronautical Systems headquartered?
Who owns General Atomics Aeronautical Systems?
Where does General Atomics Aeronautical Systems operate robots?
How many robots has General Atomics Aeronautical Systems deployed?
Is General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a top robotics company?
When was General Atomics Aeronautical Systems founded?
Are there any incidents involving General Atomics Aeronautical Systems?
Is General Atomics Aeronautical Systems safe?
Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-10-12
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-10-12
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- knowledge-base
- Knowledge base
- 1
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.Peer companies
- Amazon25 models
- DJI9 models
- Anduril Industries7 models
- Skydio6 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Baykar4 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning General Atomics Aeronautical Systems from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Taiwan buys three years of support for MQ-9B drones
Taiwan is paying General Atomics Aeronautical Systems $38.8 million to keep its new MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones flying, under a contractor logistics support deal that runs through…
General Atomics’ Mojave Drone Completes Austere Testing in Korea
Branded Content: Joint trials with its partner Hanwha Aerospace included spectacular low-level flying profiles and short-field operations. The post General Atomics’ Mojave Drone…
US Coast Guard orders four MQ-9B drones in $247.8m deal
The US Coast Guard has ordered four MQ-9B long-range uncrewed aircraft systems from General Atomics under a $247.8m US Customs and Border Protection contract. The post US Coast…
US Coast Guard to add MQ-9B drones with 30-hour flight time to boost surveillance
The U.S. Coast Guard has ordered four MQ-9B long-range unmanned aircraft from General Atomics in...
GA-ASI Teams With U.S. Navy
Demonstrate Collaborative Autonomous Mission Planning for Simulated Battle SAN DIEGO — 05 October 2026 — General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. … mehr... The post GA-ASI Teams…
AMA Software 2026 Speaker Update
The AMA Software programme continues to grow, with new speakers from Euler, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, CoreTechnologie and Kubuz joining us online on 22 October. We are…
US Navy weighs MQ-9B SeaGuardian drone as maritime patrol force multiplier
The U.S. Navy recently evaluated General Atomics’ MQ-9B SeaGuardian drone at a tactical symposium held...
U.S. Air Force gets its first uncrewed ‘fighter’ aircraft
The U.S. Air Force has taken delivery of its first two Collaborative Combat Aircraft, uncrewed jets built to fly alongside fighter pilots, at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, the…
FQ-42 Vengeance Finds New Home at Creech Air Force Base
SAN DIEGO – 21 September 2026 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) congratulates the U.S. Air Force (USAF) on … mehr... The post FQ-42 Vengeance Finds New Home at…
U.S. Navy tests new tool to plan missions for autonomous jets
The U.S. Navy demonstrated a new system for planning and controlling autonomous combat aircraft during Gray Flag 2026, a large-force test event held at Point Mugu Sea Range in…
General Atomics delivers FQ-42 Vengeance to Nevada air base
Creech Air Force Base received a new FQ-42 Vengeance aircraft on Friday, with the jet to continue regular test and evaluation operations.
General Atomics FQ-42A Vengeance CCA Now Flying Together With USAF Fighters
CCAs are participating in ever-more realistic demonstrations, including with crewed counterparts, as actual teaming trials are on the horizon. The post General Atomics FQ-42A…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/general-atomics.md
- RSS feed: /companies/general-atomics/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/33d9f53e-a5ca-4263-bb2c-2d1650575da3
- Revision history: /companies/general-atomics/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Amazon25 models
- DJI9 models
- Anduril Industries7 models
- Skydio6 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Baykar4 models
Video
When deciding about a future capability, it’s important to ask two key questions: How soon can we have it? How can it help win the fight? Mojave is flying toda
This isn’t notional, theoretical, conceptual, or planned – it’s proven. From the #JTAC remote targeting to short takeoff & landing, the hardware & the systems
The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems YFQ-42A. The future of air superiority. Learn more: https://ow.ly/HhRo50VbbUi #UAS #YFQ42A #UCAV Follow us for upda
The freedom to explore. The promise to deliver. General Atomics, based in San Diego, CA, develops advanced technology solutions for government and commercial
We're advancing the new era of collaborative combat aircraft, delivering uncrewed combat aircraft that not only operate at the tactical edge but also enable rap
The Future of Airpower. Ready Today. FQ-42A CCA is an uncrewed fighter jet developed for semi-autonomous air-to-air operation. It's designed to fly alongside f
Develop and deploy end-to-end autonomous systems that enable unmanned aerial systems. Bring your machine learning experience to General Atomics Aeronautical Sys
Essential Technology to Integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS) ga-asi.com/detect-and-avoid-system
Hear from General Atomics employees in their own words. Jared's experience as an engineer on our Flight Technologies team showed him we might be under the radar
GA-ASI is delivering next-level #autonomy that can scale and adapt as mission needs evolve. We develop cutting-edge software solutions that enable our advanced
[video: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) ]
Transforming Data to Knowledge. Quadratix unifies our software capabilities— across all domains— into a single, interconnected enterprise. Learn more: quadratix
#generalatomics #freedomtoexplore #engineer #engineering #manufacturing
The Polish Ministry of National Defense signed an agreement with US drone manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), to lease the MQ-9A Reaper
At General Atomics, we don't just design our products, we produce them. From concept to final product we see the process through from end-to-end. #generalatom
General Atomics’ recently unveiled air combat drone has completed its maiden flight, marking a significant advancement in the Air Force’s pursuit of what it ter
#aviation #fighter #subscribe #airshow #jets #video #wow #trending #military #Freedom #Defense #Power #Technology #Speed #DefenseContractor #USAF #navy#cca The
From start to finish, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems engineers play a pivotal role in the creation and sustainment of the world’s most cutting-edge remote
ThreatStatusTimes.com Threat Status explores the underpinnings of U.S. global drone dominance with General Atomics, a company that shaped the backbone of Ameri
General Atomics, GA-ASI Unmanned Aircraft Systems. #shorts General Atomics, GA-ASI #SHORTS #shorts #youtubeshorts #YouTubeshorts
[video: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) ]
Heat Index
Serious56/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems draws attention at the 89th percentile but verifies reality at the 93rd percentile among aerial robots. Hype Gap -4.1, 58th widest among aerial robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Strong deployment footprint with 15 operational sites across 16 countries. Meaningful press and media coverage across the period. Limited public funding data for capital position assessment.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Oct 17, 2026