General Atomics
A division of General Atomics
San Diego, CA
Privately held (no ticker). Maker of the MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1C Gray Eagle family of armed reconnaissance drones that defined U.S. air operations during the post-9/11 era. Also builds the EMALS electromagnetic aircraft launch system on Ford-class carriers, the MQ-20 Avenger jet-powered drone, plus advanced battery and fusion research work that's adjacent to defense.
FY26 estimated federal contracts
~$3.5B
Illustrative — based on prior-year procurement patterns; will be updated with verified USAspending data as FY26 obligations finalize.
Federal contracts by fiscal year
Federal awards trend
* Illustrative estimate; awaiting USAspending finalization for this fiscal year.
Where the money comes from
Top funding agencies
Federal lobbying spend
Lobbying disclosures
Contract-to-lobby ratio: 1,170× — for every $1 spent on federal lobbying in 2025, this recipient received approximately 1,170× in federal contracts.
Source: U.S. Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.
How this recipient compares
Against tracked peers
Same metrics, ranked across all recipients we profile. General Atomics highlighted; click any other bar to see that recipient's page.
FY26 federal contracts — all tracked recipients ranked
Most recent annual lobbying spend — all tracked recipients ranked
Contract-to-lobby ratio — all tracked recipients ranked
Bars show this recipient (highlighted) in context of all 11 recipients tracked on The Money Trail. Hover any row to track that recipient across all three metrics; click to open their profile.
What the government is buying
Major programs
Source: DoD Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon System, FY26 budget request (July 2025). Quantities and dollars reflect the President's FY26 request, which Congress may modify.
Aircraft (3)
Other (2)
Silhouette size reflects FY26 budget request (square-root scaled). Click any system for details. Quantities and dollars reflect the President's FY26 budget request; Congress may modify.
In the bills we track
Bills funding this recipient
Congressional oversight · 8 committees
Committees that authorize or fund these programs
These committees write the appropriations bills, NDAA authorizations, or oversight rules that determine how federal dollars flow to General Atomics. Each link goes to the committee's roster and editorial overview.
House
House Committee on Appropriations
Chair: Cole (R-OK)
House
House Committee on Armed Services
Chair: Rogers (R-AL)
House
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Chair: Mast (R-FL)
Senate
Senate Committee on Appropriations
Chair: Collins (R-ME)
Senate
Senate Committee on Armed Services
Chair: Wicker (R-MS)
Senate
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Chair: Risch (R-ID)
House · Subcommittee
Defense
Chair: Calvert (R-CA)
Senate · Subcommittee
Department of Defense
Chair: McConnell (R-KY)
What's worth knowing
General Atomics is the only privately held company on this list — owned by the Blue family (brothers Neal and Linden Blue) since the 1980s. The private structure means less public disclosure of program economics and a unique willingness to self-finance experimental aircraft (the MQ-20 Avenger was largely self-funded). General Atomics is also the prime contractor on EMALS, the electromagnetic catapult on Ford-class carriers that has been the source of major reliability problems.
Recipient profiles are hand-curated using public sources including USAspending.gov historical data, U.S. Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings, SEC filings (for publicly traded companies), and the bill texts we cover. FY26 figures marked "illustrative" are estimates based on prior-year procurement patterns and will be updated as USAspending obligations finalize. Findings describe public-record patterns. They are not allegations of wrongdoing.