{"id":12972,"date":"2026-06-24T22:30:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/general-atomics-plans-upgrade-so-ground-stations-can-fly-newer-mq-9-drones\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T22:30:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:30:54","slug":"general-atomics-plans-upgrade-so-ground-stations-can-fly-newer-mq-9-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/general-atomics-plans-upgrade-so-ground-stations-can-fly-newer-mq-9-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"General Atomics plans upgrade so ground stations can fly newer MQ-9 drones"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>General Atomics is working to enable older MQ-9 ground stations to control the latest version of the drone, allowing longtime operators moving to newer models to buy the upgrade package instead of a whole new terminal.<\/p>\n<p>The company is expected to announce this week that its Block 30 ground control stations, \u00a0introduced in 2016 to control the MQ-9A Reaper, will be modified to also fly the MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian drones. General Atomics expects to begin flight testing with the new stations by the end of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe understand that [ground control station] compatibility is a concern for some current MQ-9A operators considering the MQ-9B, and we want to remove that issue for them,\u201d C. Mark Brinkley, a General Atomics spokesperson, said in a statement. \u201cThis upfront investment of our own internal research and development funding is one way we hope to make the overall acquisition process smoother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Air Force operates roughly 140 Block 30 stations to control its MQ-9As, which have seen heavy use, and losses, in the ongoing war on Iran. The Air Force\u2019s top uniformed leader called the drone the \u201cmost valuable player\u201d of Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate Armed Service Committee is also a fan of the aircraft. Provisions in the committee\u2019s version of the pending 2027 National Defense Authorization Act would limit the service\u2019s ability to retire MQ-9s and direct it to acquire more by 2028.<\/p>\n<p>But the Air Force is looking to replace the venerable drone, and General Atomics has a pitch ready: the MQ-9B, with a larger wingspan, range, and endurance than its predecessor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Brinkley said the upgraded ground stations will make it more affordable for militaries to buy the SkyGuardian and SeaGuardians.<\/p>\n<p>Current Block 30 ground control station users include the U.S. military, the Italian Air Force, the French Air Force, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, the Spanish Air Force, and the Royal Netherlands Air Force, according to the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe upgraded Block 30 GCS will allow existing Reaper customers to also operate MQ-9B from that same GCS,\u201d Brinkley said. \u201cUpgrading existing Block 30s will be significantly cheaper overall than purchasing new CGCS units, and delivery will be faster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The hardware upgrades for those ground control stations are focused on the datalink capability for the MQ-9B, which includes a new datalink rack and the company\u2019s Interface Multiplexor Encryptor, General Atomics said in a statement. The software is also being modified to \u201cinterface with the unique capabilities\u201d of the SkyGuardian and SeaGuardians.<\/p>\n<p>General Atomics&#8217; certifiable ground control station, or CGCS, is meant specifically for the MQ-9B and can be used to fly the aircraft in military and civilian airspaces. The upgrades to the Block 30 ground control stations will still limit the MQ-9A and MQ-9B to military airspace, although the company did fly the SeaGuardians with the Block 30 before during development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe upgraded Block 30 will not be certifiable in the same way the CGCS has been developed to meet various global standards and the new GCS has a better, more modern human-machine interface,\u201d Brinkley said. \u201cBut for customers looking to fly a mixed fleet, the Block 30 upgrade gets them there sooner.\u201d<svg class=\"content-tombstone\">\n<use xlink:href=\"http:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/static\/base\/svg\/spritesheet.svg#icon-d1-logo-tiny\"\/>\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\nif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\nn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script',\n'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '10155007044873614'); \nfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n    FB.init({\n      appId      : '1546266055584988',\n      autoLogAppEvents : true,\n      xfbml      : true,\n      version    : 'v2.11'\n    });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/defense-systems\/2026\/06\/general-atomics-will-upgrade-its-ground-control-stations-fly-newer-mq-9b-drones\/414405\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>General Atomics is working to enable older MQ-9 ground stations to control the latest version of the drone, allowing longtime operators moving to newer models to buy the upgrade package instead of a whole new terminal. The company is expected to announce this week that its Block 30 ground control stations, \u00a0introduced in 2016 to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.defenseone.com\/media\/img\/cd\/2026\/06\/24\/5921226\/open-graph.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-defense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12974,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12972\/revisions\/12974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}