Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Military Sales of Air Force systems are on pace to eclipse fiscal 2020 levels, the head of USAF's Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate said Aug. 5. Transfers have centered on F-15s, F-16s, F-35s, A-29s, and MQ-9 drones. Despite a push ...
MQ-9 Reaper
An RQ-4 Global Hawk crashed several miles away from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., on Aug. 6, the Air Force announced. The unmanned aircraft went down in a rural field near Gilby, N.D., and no injuries were reported. The cause of the crash or ...
The Air Force is starting to field some enhanced capabilities for the MQ-9 Reaper fleet that will better prepare it to operate in more denied environments while also moving away from the idea of an “MQ-Next” direct follow-on for the remotely piloted aircraft. While the ...
The successor to the RQ-4 Global Hawk should be available for service late in this decade, Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom, Air Force deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 21. Answering questions on divestitures of systems ...
The House Appropriations Committee released its draft of the fiscal 2022 defense budget on June 29, adding C-130s and MQ-9s to the Air Force’s budget request while leaving the service’s request for F-35s and F-15EXs untouched.
Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft are among the Air Force's most-requested assets worldwide, but the service wants to cut back the number of combat air patrols it supports with ISR on any given day so it can free up funds in the fiscal 2022 budget ...
An MQ-9 suffered a catastrophic fuel leak while flying in an undisclosed area of Africa, prompting the crew to crash as hard as possible into the ground to avoid a successful recovery of the aircraft, according to an Air Force investigation released June 4. The ...
The Air Force is upgrading some 70 MQ-9 Reapers to a new configuration that will keep the type capable and relevant to the near-peer fight for another 15 years. It awarded General Atomics a $272.3 million contract to enhance the Reaper's weapons, electric power, connectivity, ...
An MQ-9 pilot pulled a wrong lever as the Reaper was taking off in Syracuse, N.Y., causing the remotely piloted aircraft to lose fuel supply and crash in June 2020, according to an Air Force investigation. The MQ-9 was “significantly damaged” at a cost of ...
Aerospace Warfare Symposium coverage; Mishaps; New TRANSCOM leader; and more ...
U.S. Southern Command is turning to big data and artificial intelligence to gain more leverage on transnational criminal organizations, while also keeping an eye on China’s expansion in the region and monitoring Russia’s disinformation efforts. SOUTHCOM boss Adm. Craig S. Faller, both in testimony to ...
The Air Force is now flying MQ-9 Reaper operations from Romania, in a new mission that aims to provide 24/7 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance coverage in the Balkans. U.S. Air Forces in Europe based the Reapers at the Romanian base in Campia Turzii earlier this ...
