GA-ASI Completes Flight Test of New ESM System on Gray Eagle UAS
Upgrade for the Army MQ-1C Supports Long-Range Sensing
SAN DIEGO — 15 October 2026 — General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has completed flight testing of the SNC Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system on the MQ-1C Gray Eagle® Extended Range (ER) Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS). The U.S. Army is evaluating numerous ways to modernize the Gray Eagle to provide critical information to ground commanders using long-range sensing to detect and target hostile Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS). This allows Gray Eagle to detect and target outside Weapon Engagement Zones (WEZ) and significantly increases mission assurance for U.S. Forces operating in the Area of Responsibility (AOR).
“We’re excited to have new capability on the Army Gray Eagle,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “Combining long-range detection with the range and persistence of the Gray Eagle ensures that commanders always know when an adversary’s IADS is operating.”
Gray Eagle’s open systems architecture reduces time and cost, making this upgrade simple but impactful. The ESM, produced by SNC, is a small form-factor, detection and collection system. It allows Gray Eagles to operate safely outside threat ranges while looking deeply into the battlespace and enables advanced Crewed-Uncrewed Teaming to increase survivability for crewed Army aircraft. The highly modular, adaptable Gray Eagle can readily accommodate new systems to stay ahead of threats.
The integration of SNC’s ESM builds upon several other significant capability improvements to the Gray Eagle UAS as demonstrated in U.S. European Command, Vanguard, and Project Convergence Capstone 5 (PC-C5) exercises.
About GA-ASI
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is the world’s foremost builder of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS). Logging more than 9 million flight hours, the Predator® line of UAS has flown for over 30 years and includes MQ-9A Reaper®, MQ-1C Gray Eagle®, MQ-20 Avenger®, MQ-9B SkyGuardian®/SeaGuardian®, XQ-67A, and FQ-42 Vengeance. The company is dedicated to providing long-endurance, multi-mission solutions that deliver persistent situational awareness and rapid strike.
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