An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, Nev., crashed on Wednesday on the Nevada Test and Training Range during a combat training mission, announced Nellis officials. The mishap occurred at approximately 7:14 p.m. Nevada time in a remote location west of Hiko, according to Nellis’ Dec. 6 release. No one was injured in the incident. The officials said they would release additional details as they became available. A board of officers will investigate the accident to determine the cause. The training mission was part of the Air Force Weapons School’s mission employment phase, according to the release. That’s the school’s capstone graduation exercise.
The Air Force is shoring up its cyber defenses both on and off base for critical infrastructure such as water and electrical power, and industry experts are calling for more, even specialized, dedicated microgrids offsite to support USAF operations in case of a total blackout caused by cyberattacks.
