An MQ-9 Reaper hunter/killer unmanned aerial vehicle last week dropped its first precision guided munition during operations over Afghanistan. SSgt. Trevor Tiernan reports that the Reaper, which USAF sent to Southwest Asia in September and which performed its first strike—using a Hellfire missile—last month, responded to a request for assistance from ground forces on Nov. 7 during a reconnaissance flight. The joint terminal attack controller working with coalition ground forces in Afghanistan provided targeting data to the Reaper’s pilot and sensor operator at Creech AFB, Nev. The pilot released two GBU-12 500-pound laser-guided bombs, taking out the enemy fighters.
WATCH: The 2021 vAWS Day 3 Highlight Report
Feb. 26, 2021
Acting Secretary of the Air Force Roth, NORAD’s Gen. VanHerck, U.S. Space Command’s Gen. Dickinson, Spark Tank, and more from Day 3 of the Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium.