General Atomics unveils Wildfire drone for MQ-9 succession

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems unveiled its Wildfire unmanned aircraft design on August 20, entering it into the Pentagon's Massed Modular Aircraft competition to replace the MQ-9 Reaper. The clean-sheet design targets a 10,000-nautical-mile ferry range, the ability to carry up to four AGM-158C long-range anti-ship missiles, and mass semi-autonomous swarming of up to 100 aircraft at a unit cost under 30 million dollars, following heavy Reaper losses reportedly including at least 45 aircraft during the Iran conflict.