An Air Force MQ-1 Predator armed unmanned aerial vehicle crashed April 9 northwest of Balad, Iraq, at about 7:10 p.m. local time, the Air Force announced that same day. The Predator took off from Ali Base, Iraq. Mechanical failure is suspected, but a board will be convened to investigate the accident, USAF said. Also on April 9, an unnamed Air Force UAV fired a Hellfire missile that killed two “armed criminals” who were attacking Iraqi security and coalition forces with small arms in northeast Baghdad, the Multinational Force-Iraq saidin an April 9 release. The day before, an Air Force Predator, according to an April 8 MNF-Baghdad release, fired a Hellfire destroying rocket rails observed in an open field in northeastern Baghdad and later on April 8, a Hellfire launched from a USAF Predator killed “10 criminals” and wounded two others that its reconnaissance showed were carrying rocket-propelled grenades and a mortar tube in northeast Baghdad. An MND-Baghdad spokesman, Lt. Col. Steve Stover, said, “We are conducting precision air strikes against criminals firing mortars and rockets.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.