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The Gray Eagle provides more capability to the Army and is another step on the way to autonomous warfare.

Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), are shaping up as the weapon system of the future. A few years ago, the course of war was changed forever as the USA bombed Taliban militants from a drone for the first time in history. Most recently the in 2020 the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan was partially decided by the use of drones. We now live in the time of killer robots, and who knows where that will lead. But for now, we have killer drones.

The first ground-breaking combat drone has now been retired, and the MQ-1C Gray Eagle is the newer badder brother that has been developed and is now in service to replace it. The Grey Eagle and the Reaper are building on the Predator's legacy as warfare becomes ever more standoff and autonomous.

Here is everything you need to know about the MQ-1C Gray Eagle — the Army's killer drone.

The MQ-1C Gray Eagle was built as the replacement for the RQ-5 Hunter and is similar to the hugely successful Predator drone (which has been retired and sold off to firefighters, border security, and foreign militaries).

The competition for the Extended-Range Multi-Purpose UAV began in 2002. The first flight was achieved in 2004, and it was introduced in 2009. The Gray Eagle was built to be similar to the Predator — while the Air Force developed the Reaper.

At the first, the Gray Eagle's performance was rather poor, showing poor reliability across its various subsystems. Due to this, some were lost, and the development was delayed as they sought to iron out the issues.

It was in 2011 and in 2013 that General Atomics announced the successful flight of the Improved Gray Eagle or IGE. This model was designed for increased durability, and this is what the Army decided to accept and purchase.

The Gray Eagle is built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (an affiliate of General Atomics). General Atomics is the defense giant that supplies a lot of equipment to the US military, including most of its drones.

General Atomics' drones include the General Atomics ALTUS, Avenger, Gnat, MQ-1 Predator, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-9 Reaper, and the Prowler. General Atomics is one of the world's foremost experts on drone technology and has been ever since they developed the Predator.

Related: 5 Military Drones that Threaten No One (10 That Are Terrifying)

The Grey Eagle is much more capable than the drones it replaces - like the Predator and Hunter. Some of the special forces within the Army operate some of the Gray Eagles. This has the effect of lessening the Army's dependence on the Air Force.

Among the units operating the Gray Eagle in the army are the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). Of course, the Gray Eagle can be used in both an attack and reconnaissance role.

The Gray Eagle has a payload capacity of 800 lbs and a max take-off weight of 3,600 lbs. It powered by a 165HP Thielert Centurion 1.7 Heavy-Fuel Engine. This is much less than the Air Force's Reaper's payload, but it is sufficient for the Army's requirements.

It has an endurance of 25 hours and a max speed of 192 MPH. In addition, it has a service ceiling of 29,000 feet and carries a AN/ZPY-1 STARLite Radar.

Related: Valkyrie Combat Drone Demonstrates It Can Launch Smaller Drones In Flight

The Gray Eagle can be armed with either four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or eight AIM-92 Stinger missiles. It was also designed to carry four GBU-44/B Viper Strike glide bombs, but these were phased out after they failed to perform as expected in tests.

As stated above, the much larger Air Force Reaper drone can carry a greater amount of weapons than the Gray Eagle. Incidentally, the British have also successfully tested firing Brimstone missiles from the Gray Eagle.

The Gray Eagle has seen some limited combat in the Army's service, including in attacking targets again ISIS. A number of Gray Eagles have been lost to a number of accidents and malfunctions.

Most recently in January 2021, a Gray Eagle was lost over Agadez in Niger — this was just a year after another Gray Eagle also crashed over Agadez. The Gray Eagle is still a new system, so it's likely to see a lot more action ahead.

The Army has plans to procure some 152 Gray Eagles and currently, none have been retired, although some have been lost in accidents. Only the United States Army operates them, and none have been exported.

This is in contrast to its larger Air Force counterpart, the Reaper, which is also in service in a number of European Air Forces and in India. At the moment the program is still young, so no replacement has yet been announced.

Related: A Complete Guide To Lockheed Martin's Unmanned Aircraft Technology

The Gray Eagle used the Hellfire missile, which is one of the most common in American service. The AGM-114 Hellfire missile has been in production since 1984. It is fired from a range of platforms including helicopters, launch vehicles, drones, fixed-wing aircraft, and even Israeli patrol boats.

Today, the Hellfire missiles can be found in most of the American allies all around the world. There are also many different variants of Hellfire missiles in the world.

The Gray Eagle is built with redundant automatic take-off and landing systems. It is also able to be transported by the C-130 Hercules. It is not able to fly over the ocean by itself, so it needs to be able to be transported by cargo aircraft. ​​​​

Its stated objective is to, "Provide a long-endurance, persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and tactical strike capability." It is a great force amplifier for the United States Army.

In summary, the Gray Eagle provides more capability to the Army and is another step on the way to autonomous warfare.

Aaron is best known for his dad jokes and his tendency to hitchhike around the world. Hailing from New Zealand, you just never know where this wandering Kiwi will turn up (occasionally its actually New Zealand). While Aaron may have graduated in accounting, it soon became clear that a more outdoorsy and adventurous lifestyle is what would suit him. He has a flare for writing and has taught English around the world for years. A nerd, he is always interesting in researching different topics of interest including the past and the future history of English.