The
Air Force said Thursday afternoon that it is flying its new hunter-killer unmanned aerial vehicle, the MQ-9 Reaper, in Southwest Asia. The UAV has completed 12 close air support and ISR missions since it began flying in Afghanistan on Sept. 25. The Reaper can carry more weapons and has nine times the range of its smaller brethren the MQ-1 Predator. Like the Predator, deployed crews maintain, launch, and recover the Reaper and US-based crews fly the missions. Pilots and sensor operators with the newly reactivated 432nd Wing at Creech AFB, Nev., operate the Reaper.
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…