CREECH AIR FORCE BASE: In early 2009, a recently reactivated combat unit, now named the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing, achieved the mark of 500,000 hours of combat, for a relatively new form of airpower, known as remotely piloted aircraft. In roughly a decade, the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, RPAs designed for enhanced loitering […]

DefenceTalkMinister for Defence, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, and Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, today announced the selection of the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper variant as the system which best meets the capability requirements for Australia’s first armed remotely piloted aircraft system. Minister Pyne said the medium altitude long endurance aircraft […]https://www.defencetalk.com/australia-to-buy-mq-9-reaper-male-drones-71938/

DefenceTalkKANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan: The U.S. Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance enterprise is vital to the national security of the United States and its allies, providing an unrivaled capability; focused, integrated ISR is inseparable from operations and enables mission execution. For the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, efforts to increase those capabilities […]https://www.defencetalk.com/reaper-uav-extends-range-in-afghanistan-66054/

DefenceTalkAn MQ-9 Reaper successfully hit a sea-going target with an AGM-114 Hellfire missile during a joint service training exercise over the Gulf of Mexico on March 17. This was the first time a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) hit a maritime target. “It was the first time we had put live weapons into boats and participated […]https://www.defencetalk.com/reaper-deploys-live-weapons-on-maritime-training-target-63726/

DefenceTalkPlans to sell US Reaper drones to France advanced Monday as Congress raised no objections to the contract, Pentagon officials said. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign military sales, had notified Congress on June 27 of the proposed contract, and lawmakers voiced no opposition during a 15-day review period. “Congress did not propose […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-readies-sale-of-reaper-drones-to-france-48479/

DefenceTalkFrance wants to buy 12 Reaper drones from the United States, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday, as ministry officials put the cost at 670 million euros ($889 million). Le Drian said he wanted two Reapers to be deployed in sub-Saharan Africa, where France is battling Islamist militants in Mali. The 10 others […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-keen-to-buy-12-us-reaper-drones-minister-48079/

DefenceTalkRaytheon and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. are working together to develop a highly autonomous, unmanned electronic warfare capability based on equipping GA-ASI’s Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) with Raytheon’s Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD). With the Ground Verification Test phase completed November 2012 at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raytheon-integrates-miniature-air-launched-decoy-with-uav-platform-46864/