Key Facts
| Founded | 1955, as a division of General DynamicsAcquired by the Blue family in 1986[1] |
| Employees | More than 14,000General Atomics group[1] |
| FQ-42A Production Contract | US Air Force, announced 17 June 2026Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1; value and quantity not disclosed[7] |
| CCA Increment 1 | Production contracts to General Atomics and Anduril[6] |
| YFQ-42A First Flight | Announced 27 August 2025Air Force officials had said 100 to 150 aircraft would be ordered under Increment 1[3] |
| YFQ-42A Mishap | 6 April 2026A production-representative aircraft crashed after take-off at a company-owned airfield in California; no injuries; flight tests paused[4] |
| Taiwan MQ-9B Sustainment | $38.8 millionAir Force award of 1 October 2026, sole source, work in Poway, California, to 31 August 2029[5] |
KEY CONTRACTS
PRODUCTS
LEADERSHIP
David R. Alexander, President, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems[2]
Drone Intelligence Assessment
General Atomics makes the MQ-9 family and, since June 2026, is a production supplier of Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The group dates to 1955, when it was a General Dynamics division, and has been owned by the Blue family since 1986. Its aeronautical arm, GA-ASI, received a US Air Force production contract for the FQ-42A, announced on 17 June 2026 (Evertiq carried GA-ASI's statement on 22 July); neither value nor quantity was disclosed. Defense News reports the Increment 1 production awards went to General Atomics and Anduril.
The path was not clean. The YFQ-42A's first flight was announced on 27 August 2025, and on 6 April 2026 a production-representative aircraft crashed after take-off at a company-owned airfield, pausing flight tests. Nobody was hurt, and a Bloomberg Economics analyst told Defense One it was unlikely to change the competition. The production award followed just over two months later. GA-ASI's export base keeps generating work too: on 1 October 2026 it received a $38.8 million sole-source award to sustain Taiwan's MQ-9B SkyGuardians to 2029.
DI analysis: the CCA award moves General Atomics from remotely piloted aircraft like the MQ-9B into uncrewed wingmen bought in volume, the same market that newer entrants are funding factories for. Air Force officials have said Increment 1 means 100 to 150 aircraft, so the size of the first orders, still undisclosed, is the number to watch.
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Join the design-partner listSources & References
- General Atomics, About
- Evertiq, US Air Force awards GA-ASI production contract for FQ-42A CCA (22 July 2026)
- The War Zone, YFQ-42 Collaborative Combat Aircraft has flown for the first time (August 2025)
- Defense One, General Atomics pauses drone wingman flight tests after crash (April 2026)
- HigherGov, General Atomics wins $39 million Air Force contract (15 October 2026)
- Defense News, Lockheed to build 4 more Vectis drones (14 September 2026)
- DefenseScoop, Air Force picks Anduril, General Atomics to build first operational CCA drones (17 June 2026)
Drone Intelligence, Company Profile. Compiled from public filings, company disclosures and specialist reporting. Last updated 26 October 2026.
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