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.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
