The new design comes in response to a US Air Force search for a low-cost uncrewed strike platform.
Uncrewed aircraft manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has revealed the first renderings of a new concept vehicle intended as a successor to the company’s popular MQ-9 family.
Dubbed the Wildfire, the clean-sheet design will incorporate “lower-cost components, tailored capabilities, and reimagined modularity”, General Atomics said on 10 September.
“This enables Wildfire to be fielded quickly in large numbers, take risk in kinetic battlefield roles, and bring significant mass to the fight in ways that would have been prohibitive with other systems,” the company adds.
A civil variant will also be available for commercial operations, including cargo delivery.
Renderings of the Wildfire released by General Atomics on 10 September suggest the aircraft will be able to employ a variety of precision weapons, including the Lockheed Martin Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.
The Wildfire’s outer mould shape appears fairly similar to the MQ-9B, with noticeably long tapered straight wings extending from a central tube fuselage and a V-tail empennage.
One image shows a swarm of Wildfire drones launching a volley of missiles at a formation of enemy ships – suggesting the new aircraft will have a substantial teaming capability. General Atomics says the Wildfire will incorporate autonomous flight technology the company developed for the US Air Force’s FQ-42 collaborative combat aircraft.
However, the company is drawing a clear distinction between that uncrewed fighter and the Wildfire.
“We’ve defined the top end of what medium-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed aircraft can do,” says David Alexander, president of GA-ASI. “[Wildfire] is focused on core ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], strike and similar roles. This is a high-volume, lower-cost airplane that does a few things really well.”
Alexander describes the Wildfire as “attrition-tolerant”, meaning it is not expendable like a missile but can be replenished much faster than current aircraft designs.
That will make the new design a strong contender for the Pentagon’s new Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA) requirement, which was revealed by the US Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) in July. That programme envisages a multi-role uncrewed aircraft that can provide what the DIU describes as a “risk-tolerant option” in the air domain.
The initial MMA solicitation described the US military as having an “unsustainable” reliance on “low-density, high-value ‘exquisite’ (>$30 million) manned and unmanned aircraft” which are vulnerable to modern air defences.
“This drives the joint force into unacceptable compromises: either operate safely outside a threat zone – negatively impacting mission effectiveness – or manoeuvre inside a threat engagement zone with increased levels of attrition,” the DIU says.
The description listed in the MMA tender is a clear reference to General Atomics’ MQ-9A Reaper, which a top US Air Force general described as the “most valuable player” of the US-Israeli air campaign over Iran throughout February, March and April but which sustained high rates of combat loss.
In August, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon had lost at least 45 Reapers over Iran – 25% of the total fleet.
General Atomics shuttered the MQ-9A production line in 2025 due to a lack of new US orders. Although the newer MQ-9B SkyGuardian is in active production, it bears a similar cost to the Reaper while still being vulnerable to air defences.
That reality spawned the MMA project.
General Atomics says the Wildfire meets or surpasses all requirements of the MMA requirements, offering an 8,000nm (14,800km) ferry range and the capacity to carry two LRASM missiles.
Specific technical attributes listed in the MMA solicitation include a payload capacity of at least 1,270kg (2,800lb), an unrefuelled combat radius of at least 2,300nm while carrying payload, and the ability to self-deploy one-way at least 8,000nm.
The DIU is targeting 2031 for initial operating capability on an MMA vehicle, defined as 20 mission-ready aircraft delivered to an operational unit and able to be deployed.
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