First Reaper PGM:

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

An MQ-9 Reaper hunter/killer unmanned aerial vehicle last week dropped its first precision guided munition during operations over Afghanistan. SSgt. Trevor Tiernan reports that the Reaper, which USAF sent to Southwest Asia in September and which performed its first strike—using a Hellfire missile—last month, responded to a request for assistance from ground forces on Nov. 7 during a reconnaissance flight. The joint terminal attack controller working with coalition ground forces in Afghanistan provided targeting data to the Reaper’s pilot and sensor operator at Creech AFB, Nev. The pilot released two GBU-12 500-pound laser-guided bombs, taking out the enemy fighters.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org