GA-ASI showcases new Wildfire UAS at AFA

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A rendering of the new Wildfire platform. Image courtesy of GA-ASI.

GA-ASI will demonstrate how its new offering addresses mass and scalability requirements at AFA 2026.

Presented by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

The U.S. arsenal relies on exquisite, technologically advanced systems. While essential for domain dominance, these assets are often ill-suited for the attrition rates of protracted warfare. Recent operations demonstrate that adversaries are successfully neutralizing expensive U.S. assets with low-cost, attritable systems.

As operational environments shift toward massed, modular capabilities, our reliance on high-value, hard-to-replace platforms will create a strategic vulnerability. To address this, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) should shift toward a more cost-effective model of achieving aerial dominance, one that combines exquisite systems with a mix of affordable, massed solutions.

And at this year’s Air, Space & Cyber (AFA) Conference , General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), will demonstrate how they’re leaning into this shift and supporting the USAF by showcasing their newest solution: Wildfire .

What is GA-ASI’s Wildfire system?

With more than three decades of experience and nearly 10 million flight hours across its thousands of aircraft, GA-ASI’s Wildfire platform looks to build on the success of the MQ-9 program. Wildfire is engineered to bridge the gap between reliability and the need for autonomous volume at scale.

“Wildfire is GA-ASI’s vision for a new uncrewed aircraft that combines high capability with affordable unit costs, in response to the U.S. Air Force’s request for a new type of aircraft,” explained a spokesperson from GA-ASI. “Wildfire integrates the proven capabilities of the current MQ-9A model and MQ-9B aircraft, with some unconventional refinements and strict discipline around other features and missions.”

Wildfire is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) aircraft that’s designed to take the best of what the MQ-9A and MQ-9B have to offer and operate in concert with other semi-autonomous systems like the FQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) “Dark Merlin.”

“Wildfire draws inspiration from the FQ-42A and its heavy use of semi-autonomous operations, thereby reducing the workload for human operators,” continued the spokesperson. “When it comes to the MQ-9B, Wildfire builds on the MQ-9B’s class-leading onboard sensing and novel networking and communications infrastructure.”

However, Wildfire is unique in the sense that it doesn’t have many of the common features or onboard systems that are expected of similar craft. This intentional design choice helps the USAF save on costs and is designed to give them a more “focused platform they’ll be able to field in higher quantities,” explained the spokesperson.

Meet the GA-ASI team at AFA.

The time to transition from a high-cost, low-output model is now. At AFA this year, GA-ASI will showcase how their systems support this shift by enabling and promoting a more resilient airpower model.

On a more tactical level, at AFA, GA-ASI will feature a full-scale model of the FQ-42A CCA, now in production and making routine flights for the company and the USAF. Attendees will also have the chance to learn more about GA-ASI’s MALE platforms like the MQ-9A Reaper ®, MQ-9B SkyGuardian ®, and MQ-9B SeaGuardian ®.

But more importantly, attendees who stop by Booth #635 will also get a chance to snag a sneak peek of the company’s new Wildfire massed modular aircraft offering.

“GA-ASI stands at the leading edge of what’s possible with uncrewed aircraft at every level, and we’re excited to unveil Wildfire at AFA,” the spokesperson added.

Visit Booth #635 at AFA .

This content is made possible by our sponsor General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., it is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Defense One's editorial staff.

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赞助商内容 这是什么？

全新Wildfire平台的效果图。图片由GA-ASI提供。

GA-ASI 将在 2026 年 AFA 展会上展示其新产品如何满足大规模和可扩展性要求。

由通用原子航空系统公司呈献。

通用原子航空系统公司

美国的武器库依赖于精良且技术先进的系统。虽然这些系统对于取得领域优势至关重要，但它们往往难以应对持久战中频繁的损耗。近期的行动表明，对手正成功地利用低成本、易损耗的系统来削弱美国昂贵的武器装备。

随着作战环境向大规模、模块化能力转变，我们对高价值、难以替换平台的依赖将造成战略脆弱性。为应对这一问题，美国空军应转向更具成本效益的空中优势获取模式，将精密系统与经济实惠的大规模解决方案相结合。

在今年的航空航天网络（AFA）大会上，通用原子航空系统公司（GA-ASI）将展示他们如何顺应这一转变，并通过展示其最新解决方案“野火”来支持美国空军。

GA-ASI的野火系统是什么？

通用航空系统公司（GA-ASI）拥有超过三十年的经验，旗下数千架飞机累计飞行近千万小时，其Wildfire平台旨在延续MQ-9项目的成功。Wildfire的设计目标是弥合可靠性与大规模自主飞行需求之间的差距。

“‘野火’是通用原子航空系统公司（GA-ASI）响应美国空军对新型飞机的需求而研发的新型无人机，它兼具高性能和经济实惠的单价，”通用原子航空系统公司的一位发言人解释说。“‘野火’融合了现有MQ-9A和MQ-9B型飞机的成熟性能，并针对其他特性和任务进行了一些非常规的改进和严格的规范。”

“野火”是一款中空长航时（MALE）飞机，其设计旨在汲取MQ-9A和MQ-9B的优点，并与其他半自主系统（如FQ-42A协同作战飞机（CCA）“暗黑梅林”）协同作战。

发言人继续说道：“‘野火’无人机的设计灵感源自FQ-42A无人机及其大量采用的半自主操作，从而减轻了操作员的工作量。而对于MQ-9B无人机来说，‘野火’无人机则在其一流的机载传感系统和新型网络通信基础设施的基础上进行了改进。”

然而，“野火”无人机的独特之处在于，它并不具备同类飞行器通常配备的许多常见功能或机载系统。发言人解释说，这种有意为之的设计选择有助于美国空军节省成本，并旨在为他们提供一个“功能更集中、部署数量更多的平台”。

在AFA与GA-ASI团队见面。

现在正是从高成本、低产出模式转型之时。在今年的AFA展会上，通用航空系统公司（GA-ASI）将展示其系统如何通过赋能和推广更具韧性的空中力量模式来支持这一转变。

在更具战术性的层面上，通用航空系统公司（GA-ASI）将在AFA展会上展出FQ-42A CCA的全尺寸模型，该机型目前正在生产中，并已开始为该公司和美国空军进行例行飞行。与会者还将有机会了解更多关于GA-ASI的中空长航时（MALE）平台的信息，例如MQ-9A“死神”®、MQ-9B“天空卫士”®和MQ-9B“海上卫士”®。

但更重要的是，莅临 635 号展位的参观者还将有机会先睹为快该公司新推出的 Wildfire 模块化飞机产品。

发言人补充道：“GA-ASI 在各个层面上都处于无人驾驶飞机技术的前沿，我们很高兴能在 AFA 上推出 Wildfire。”

欢迎莅临AFA展会635号展位。

本内容由我们的赞助商通用原子航空系统公司提供，并非由Defense One编辑人员撰写，也不一定反映Defense One编辑人员的观点。

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