General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI) announced that its Predator-series family of aircraft, including MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and MQ-1C Gray Eagle, has achieved a historic industry milestone: four million flight hours. The milestone was crossed on August 7th, with 291,331 total missions completed and 90% of all missions flown in combat.
“Amassing four million flight hours is a testament to the reliability of RPA systems that are designed, built, and maintained by a dedicated group of skilled and innovative professionals,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI. “We are proud of our fleet’s contributions in providing round-the-clock ISR capabilities for our customers worldwide.”
The identification of the specific aircraft and customer that achieved the milestone is unknown as every second of every day, an average of 70 Predator-class aircraft are airborne worldwide. On August 7th, 79 GA-ASI manufactured aircraft were airborne when the four millionth flight hour was flown. Flight hours have continued to grow at unprecedented rates in recent years, with 500,000 flight hours achieved from 1993 to 2008, one million hours in 2010, two million hours in 2012, and three million hours in 2014. Read more
Source: www.uasvision.com
