Four million flight hours for Predator series
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ (GA ASI’s) Predator series family of aircraft has reached a new milestone, with the fleet having flown a combined four million flight hours, the company announced on 20 September.
The Predator family includes the MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and MQ-1C Gray Eagle.
The four millionth flight hour was crossed on 7 August, with a total of 291,331 missions completed and 90% of those missions flown in combat.
Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper flights account for approximately one-third of the total flight hours and are increasing at an average rate of 32,000 hours a month.
According to GA-ASI, its aircraft log nearly 45,000 hours per month across its customer base, including US military, homeland security and international air forces. The company has produced over 770 aircraft to date and is currently building four aircraft per month, with the capacity to triple production if needed.
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