The Army intended to procure eleven Warrior systems, each of these units having twelve UAVs and five ground control stations.

[4] The Army announced on 3 September 2010 that the integration of the AGM-114 Hellfire missile on the UAV had been so successful that 4 weaponized MQ-1Cs would be deployed to Afghanistan in late 2010.

During that month, one Gray Eagle crashed in California when a faulty chip blocked commands to part of the aircraft's flight control surfaces.

In October 2011, a report concluded the Gray Eagle was meeting only four out of seven "key performance parameters," and its reliability fell short of predicted growth.

The upgraded centerline hardpoint supports integration of a 500-pound (227 kg) optional external fuel tank or 360 degree sensor payload.

With endurance claims carrying the payload configuration validated, the IGE will receive upgrades to make it compatible with the Army's One System Ground Control Station (OSGCS) and future Universal Ground Control System (UGCS), with flights of the upgrade to be conducted in summer 2014.

[21] In May 2015, BAE Systems was awarded an initial production contract to provide 12 Tactical Signals Intelligence Payload (TSP) sensors for the MQ-1C.

The TSP SIGINT system captures a 360-degree aerial field of view to identify, detect, and geo-locate electronic emitters.

[22] In June 2015, soldiers performed an initial test and evaluation for the One System Remote Video Terminal (OSRVT), enabling ground forces to control a Gray Eagle's payload.

The OSRVT is a portable system consisting of a radio transceiver, laptop, antennas, and software to communicate with the UAV and receive video and other data from it.

The aircraft can carry a payload of 800 pounds (360 kg) and may be armed with weapons such as AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and GBU-44/B Viper Strike guided bombs.

[27] Test flights showed that the Gray Eagle could operate with the jammer payload without being subject to adverse effects.

[13] The empty weight is 1,318 kg (2,906 lb), endurance without the external tank is 45 hours, and engine can sustain an output of 180 hp (130 kW) continuously.

[29] The Army's 1st Infantry Division's combat aviation brigade deployed to Iraq with developmental Gray Eagles in June 2010.

[21] In July 2015, an unarmed Gray Eagle crashed in Iraq after a communications failure that was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve against the Islamic State.

[36] In March 2017, US Army has begun the process to permanently station the MQ-1C Gray Eagle at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea.

On March 3, 2020, an unused Hellfire missile was lying beside the crashed MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone, thus posing a threat according to Africamilitaryblog.com to U.S, French and Nigerien forces if it were to be recovered by the Islamic terror group operating in the country.

[40] Reuters reported on 1 June 2022 that the Biden administration plans to sell four Gray Eagle drones to Ukraine, each capable of carrying up to 8 Hellfire missiles, "for battlefield use against Russia" in the current conflict.