General Atomics unveils ‘Wildfire’ drone to replace Reaper

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.

The Reaper can cost up to $50 million a piece depending on its configuration, according to Air Force officials. (The drone’s manufacturing ceased last year, though an upgraded version dubbed the MQ-9B SkyGuardian is in production.) According to Niemi, the Pentagon is aiming to get the cost of the MMA air vehicle to roughly $10 million a piece, a number that excludes mission equipment.

In an industry solicitation , the Pentagon laid out targets like an ability to self-deploy 8,000 nautical miles (9,206 miles) and carry a payload of “at least” 2,800 pounds. According to the GA-ASI press release, the Wildfire “meets or surpasses all requirements” of the Pentagon’s solicitation “in dramatic fashion, exceeding 8,000 nautical miles ferry range and capable of carrying two Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles simultaneously for meaningful combat distance.”

Additionally, according to the release, the Wildfire can carry different combinations of “munitions, launched effects, sensors or other payloads” and will be “highly autonomous and designed for collaborative operations” from the outset.

While the Pentagon’s solicitation laid out a goal of getting an MMA system operational by fiscal 2031, measured by 20 mission-ready drones, Air Force officials now want to move faster. GA-ASI says the Wildfire “can be delivered years earlier than the FY2031 timeline” and that it can produce more than double the amount of drones in that same timeframe.

In many ways, Air Force officials expect for the MMA effort to mirror the Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone wingmen program — where GA-ASI and Anduril were both recently tapped for production deals — by featuring open architectures and successive “increments” of designs. Niemi predicted the MMA aircraft won’t have “cutting edge” technology and would “probably” be powered by a turboprop engine with “a long aspect wing.”

这是艺术家绘制的通用原子公司“野火”无人机的效果图。（通用原子公司供图）

华盛顿——无人机制造商通用原子航空系统公司（GA-ASI）今天正式公布了其方案，旨在用一款全新设计的无人机取代该公司现有的猎杀型MQ-9A“死神”无人机。该公司声称，这款无人机可以快速生产，并超越五角大楼的目标。

通用原子公司表示，这款名为“野火”（Wildfire）的新型无人机可以执行以往由“死神”（Reaper）无人机完成的任务，例如长时间侦察和打击。除了用于冲突地区外，该公司还计划将该无人机应用于民用领域，并声称该无人系统相对更大的有效载荷以及“更坚固的挂点”使其在诸如商业货物运输等任务中拥有“新的选择”。

通用航空系统公司（GA-ASI）总裁大卫·亚历山大在公司新闻稿中表示：“这正是高需求任务和注重成本的客户所需要的理想设计。我们量身定制、耐损耗的‘野火’战斗机，在保持我们飞机一贯的高性能的同时，兼具极高的灵活性和可扩展性。此前从未有过这样的产品。”

该公司正在竞标“大规模模块化飞机”（MMA）项目，该项目由空军和国防创新部门于7月启动，旨在寻找“死神”（Reaper）无人机的替代机型。空军首席现代化官克里斯托弗·尼米中将近日告诉记者，由于“死神”无人机在对伊朗的作战行动中损失惨重，该项目已加快推进。他强调，目标是用一种更便宜、更易损耗的新系统来取代这款老旧的无人机。

据空军官员称，根据配置不同，Reaper无人机的单价最高可达5000万美元。（该无人机的生产已于去年停止，但其升级版MQ-9B SkyGuardian正在生产中。）据尼米称，五角大楼的目标是将MMA无人机的单价控制在1000万美元左右，该价格不包括任务设备。

在一次行业招标中，五角大楼提出了一些目标，例如能够自主部署8000海里（9206英里）的航程，并携带“至少”2800磅的有效载荷。根据通用原子航空系统公司（GA-ASI）的新闻稿，野火无人机“以惊人的方式满足或超越了”五角大楼招标的所有要求，“其航程超过8000海里，并能够同时携带两枚远程反舰导弹，从而实现有效的作战距离。”

此外，根据新闻稿，Wildfire 可以携带不同组合的“弹药、发射效应、传感器或其他有效载荷”，并且从一开始就具有“高度自主性，并设计用于协同作战”。

五角大楼的招标目标是在2031财年之前交付一套多用途无人机系统（MMA），并以20架可执行任务的无人机作为衡量标准。但空军官员现在希望加快进度。通用原子航空系统公司（GA-ASI）表示，其“野火”无人机“可以比2031财年的目标提前数年交付”，并且在同一时间内可以生产两倍以上的无人机。

在许多方面，空军官员预计MMA项目将效仿协同作战飞机（CCA）无人机僚机项目——通用原子航空系统公司（GA-ASI）和安杜里尔公司（Anduril）最近都获得了CCA的生产合同——采用开放式架构和逐步改进的设计。尼米预测MMA飞机不会采用“尖端”技术，并且“可能”会使用涡轮螺旋桨发动机和“长翼展机翼”。