An unarmed Air Force MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft crashed Tuesday at the Seychelles International Airport on the island of Mahe near the capital Victoria, announced USAF officials in a brief statement. There were no reported injuries. US officials notified the Seychelles government of the mishap and US military and Seychelles civil aviation authorities are coordinating the removal of debris, according to the statement. The airport reopened to normal traffic not long after the crash, it noted. The cause of the incident is under investigation. The Defense Department confirmed the presence of unarmed MQ-9s in the Seychelles in 2009 for use in countering piracy in and around the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
