The Air Force has taken delivery of the first MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle—the bigger and more powerful brother to the MQ-1 Predator—at Creech AFB, Nev. the commander of the 42nd Attack Squadron, Lt. Col. Jon Greene, piloted the UAV from California where it had undergone initial testing. Assisting him was sensor operator SrA. Aaron Aguilar. Greene said his unit’s mission is to get the first MQ-9 crews trained and ready for combat by this summer.
A dozen and a half Air Force Reservists formally transferred to the Space Force on July 15, becoming the new service’s first 18 part-time Guardians. The move is the culmination of more than two and a half years of work to create a system unlike any other military branch.