An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, Nev., crashed on Wednesday on the Nevada Test and Training Range during a combat training mission, announced Nellis officials. The mishap occurred at approximately 7:14 p.m. Nevada time in a remote location west of Hiko, according to Nellis’ Dec. 6 release. No one was injured in the incident. The officials said they would release additional details as they became available. A board of officers will investigate the accident to determine the cause. The training mission was part of the Air Force Weapons School’s mission employment phase, according to the release. That’s the school’s capstone graduation exercise.
The Air Force is moving forward with a new, algorithm-driven system to help U.S. Northern Command better detect airborne threats. NORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which are tasked with protecting the homeland from attack, depend on a slew of radars and other data systems to monitor U.S.…