SAN DIEGO - General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) has unveiled Wildfire, its new medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) uncrewed aircraft designed for lower-cost, attrition-tolerant operations and proposed for the U.S. Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit's Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA) effort.

The clean-sheet aircraft is designed around long-range flight, modular payloads, autonomous operations, and high-rate production for missions including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and precision strike.

The DIU launched the MMA effort in July to develop a lower-cost, modular aircraft capable of performing missions currently conducted by the MQ-9A Reaper. The solicitation calls for an aircraft that can carry at least 2,800 pounds of payload, fly an unrefueled combat radius of at least 2,300 nautical miles, and self-deploy 8,000 nautical miles in one direction. The aircraft is also to support modular payloads, resilient communications, and control of multiple aircraft by a single operator.

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MMA background

The Air Force has said the MMA effort will directly inform requirements for the MQ-9's successor, although the program is not formally defined as a direct MQ-9A replacement.

GA-ASI says Wildfire exceeds the MMA ferry-range requirement, with a range of more than 8,000 nautical miles. The company also says the aircraft can carry two Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) simultaneously or four Joint Strike Missiles (JSMs), as well as combinations of other weapons, launched effects, sensors, and mission payloads. The payload and range figures are company design claims and have not been demonstrated in flight.

"Wildfire is different. It's focused on core ISR, strike and similar roles," said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. "This is a high-volume, lower-cost airplane that does a few things really well."

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GA-ASI says Wildfire is designed to be fielded in quantity and accept greater operational risk than more expensive aircraft. The company is targeting a narrower set of missions than its MQ-9B SkyGuardian, which is designed for a broader range of applications and payloads.

Autonomous operations

Autonomy is central to the Wildfire design. GA-ASI says the aircraft will support collaborative operations and draw on the company's experience developing autonomous aircraft, including the YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The USAF has been developing the YFQ-42A with GA-ASI as a semi-autonomous aircraft for crewed-uncrewed teaming and has awarded General Atomics engineering, manufacturing, and production contracts for the program.

GA-ASI says Wildfire will use U.S. government-provided autonomy software rather than a conventional ground-control architecture, allowing human operators to control multiple aircraft. The company also says networked collaborative operations will enable dozens of Wildfires to operate together.

The aircraft is designed with modular payload interfaces for different mission configurations. GA-ASI says Wildfire will carry multispectral targeting sensors and other onboard ISR systems while accommodating precision-strike weapons and other payloads.

The MMA solicitation also calls for resilient communications, and GA-ASI says Wildfire will use proliferated low-Earth-orbit satellite communications technologies demonstrated on other company aircraft. The company has not identified the specific satellite network or networks Wildfire would use.

The MMA program calls for a full-scale prototype to fly within 21 months of contract award and targets an initial operational capability in fiscal 2031 with 20 mission-ready aircraft.

Wildfire's design reflects a broader shift in military UAS development toward affordable aircraft that can be produced and operated in larger numbers, with modular payloads and autonomous systems reducing the manpower and cost required to operate individual platforms.

For GA-ASI, the aircraft applies that approach to the MALE category while retaining the long-range ISR and precision-strike missions associated with the company's existing UAS portfolio. The company also says Wildfire's payload capacity and hardpoints could support noncombat applications such as heavy cargo delivery, although the aircraft initially emphasizes military missions.