Engines
General Atomics Gray Eagle Flies with New Powerplant
The HFE 2.0 engine provides the MQ-1C with more power for both improved performance as well as better reliability.
Gray Eagle HFE 2.0
A Gray Eagle lifts off from El Mirage for its first flight with the HFE 2.0 engine. (Photo: GA-ASI)

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has conducted the first flight of its new heavy-fuel (diesel) engine for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle remotely piloted aircraft. The recently disclosed flight took place at the company’s El Mirage test airfield in California on May 9. The company plans to start qualification tests for the engine later this year.

From the start of the MQ-1C program, the U.S. Army specified a heavy-fuel engine so that the fleet could employ the same fuel used in land vehicles. The new powerplant—the 200-hp Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE) 2.0—replaces the current 180-hp unit. It is a feature of the Gray Eagle 25M now under development. This version is destined for the U.S. Army’s future Multi-Domain Operations, with an open system architecture, new sensor capabilities, and new communications systems, including Ka- and Ku-band satellite links.

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