The Air Force said Thursday afternoon that it is flying its new hunter-killer unmanned aerial vehicle, the MQ-9 Reaper, in Southwest Asia. The UAV has completed 12 close air support and ISR missions since it began flying in Afghanistan on Sept. 25. The Reaper can carry more weapons and has nine times the range of its smaller brethren the MQ-1 Predator. Like the Predator, deployed crews maintain, launch, and recover the Reaper and US-based crews fly the missions. Pilots and sensor operators with the newly reactivated 432nd Wing at Creech AFB, Nev., operate the Reaper.
More A-10s Deploy to Middle East, This Time from Idaho
March 31, 2025
Multiple A-10 attack aircraft from the Idaho Air National Guard deployed to the Middle East over the weekend. More than 300 Airmen from the 124th Fighter Wing, along with the attack aircraft, were sent to southwest Asia within U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility on March 29.