An MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft assigned to Holloman AFB, N.M., crashed around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, “seven miles south of Highway 70,” according to a base press release. A spokesperson told the Alamogordo Daily News that the Reaper was on its way back to base after a routine training mission. An Air Force spokesman declined to say if any property was damaged or if anyone was injured when the RPA crashed, saying only that the incident was “still under investigation.”
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.