An MQ-9 Reaper crashed during a combat sortie near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, on Nov. 24, reported Stars and Stripes. The remotely piloted aircraft was assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing and launched from Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, according to a wing release. “The aircraft went down in a remote area away from any civilian population centers and it was a total loss,” 455th AEW spokesman Capt. Bryan Bouchard told Stars and Stripes. “The munitions on board were also destroyed with the aircraft,” he added. The crash was not caused by enemy fire, and the RPA was obliterated to the point that the Air Force did not attempt to secure the crash site, according to the press. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
