General Atomics’ MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range UAS completes 41.9-hour endurance flight

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General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has announced that on August 6, its MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range (MQ-1C ER) UAS completed a 41.9-hour endurance flight, which surpassed the 40 hour flight test goal.

The UAS flew out of El Mirage, California in a “representative U.S. Army mission configuration.”

“This is an important milestone for the MQ-1C ER program,” says David R. Alexander, president, Aircraft Systems, GA-ASI.

“The MQ-1C ER represents a significant enhancement in capability over the currently fielded MQ-1C and will be a game changer on the battlefield in support of our Army customer.”

This month, the MQ-1C ER production aircraft will begin flight testing for evaluation of the Army's First Article Test (FAT).

​FAT will demonstrate the mission capabilities of the MQ-1C ER, which include increased range, payload capacity and endurance.

The MQ-1C ER will go through Logistics Demonstration (Log Demo) in January 2018. During the Log Demo, aircraft maintainability will be validated.

In March 2018, Follow-on Operational Test and Evaluation2 (FOTE2) will showcase the aircraft’s ability to “meet all Army operational requirements in preparation for fielding,” which is planned for August 2018.