By All Means... Fear The Reaper
The US Air Force announced Friday the service's new
hunter-killer unmanned aerial vehicle is now flying operational
missions in Afghanistan. The MQ-9 Reaper has completed 12 missions
since its inaugural flight there September 25, averaging about one
sortie per day.
Capable of striking enemy targets with on-board weapons, the
Reaper has conducted close air support and intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Operational use of Reaper's advanced capabilities marks a
tremendous step forward in the evolution of unmanned aerial
systems. Air Force quality assurance evaluators gave a "thumbs up"
to the aircraft's debut performance and have been pleased with its
operation ever since.
"The Reaper is a significant evolution in capability for the Air
Force," said Air Force Chief of Staff T. Michael Moseley. "We've
taken these aircraft from performing mainly as intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance platforms to carrying out true
hunter-killer missions."
The Reaper is larger and more heavily-armed than the MQ-1
Predator and in addition to its traditional ISR capabilities, is
designed to attack time-sensitive targets with persistence and
precision, and destroy or disable those targets. To date, Reaper
operators have not been called upon to drop their weapons on enemy
positions.
Like the MQ-1 Predator, the Reaper is launched, recovered and
maintained at deployed locations, while being remotely operated by
pilots and sensor operators at Creech Air Force Base, NV.
But that's where the resemblance ends. The MQ-9 has nearly nine
times the range, can fly twice as high... and carries more
munitions.
"It's a tremendous increase in our capability that will allow us
to keep UAVs over the airspace of Afghanistan and Iraq in the
future for a very long time," said Lt. Gen. Gary North, commander
of US Central Command Air Forces, who noted the Reaper was a
perfect complement to the Air Force's existing manned airborne
platforms. "This is just another evolutionary step where technology
is helping commanders on the battlefield to integrate great effects
from the air into the ground commander's scheme of maneuver."
General North added that he expects the Reaper to bring a
significant impact to military operations throughout the US Central
Command area of responsibility.
"The enemy knows we track them and they know that if and when
they commit acts against their people and government, we will take
action against them. The Reaper is an incredible weapon in our
quiver," said General North.