The Air Force’s newest unmanned aerial vehicle, the MQ-9 Reaper, on July 18 started operating in Iraq, offering increased weapons capability, longer dwell time, and larger intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance payload than its smaller brother the much-in-demand MQ-1 Predator. USAF sent the Reaper first to Afghanistan, where, since last fall, it has flown some 480 sorties for more than 3,800 hours, according to a July 22 release. It dropped its first precision guided munition for Operation Enduring Freedom in November 2007. Lt. Gen. Gary North, who leads the Combined Force Air Component for US Central Command, said that Predator has proved the value of “persistent stare” for gathering intel, but the Reaper close air support asset “expands beyond the concept of persistent stare to one of persistent strike.” The MQ-9 provides the capability to react with precision weapons “at the exact point where the ground commander wants the desired effect,” stated North and added, “It’s an incredibly powerful and flexible capability.”
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.