An unarmed Air Force MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft crashed Tuesday at the Seychelles International Airport on the island of Mahe near the capital Victoria, announced USAF officials in a brief statement. There were no reported injuries. US officials notified the Seychelles government of the mishap and US military and Seychelles civil aviation authorities are coordinating the removal of debris, according to the statement. The airport reopened to normal traffic not long after the crash, it noted. The cause of the incident is under investigation. The Defense Department confirmed the presence of unarmed MQ-9s in the Seychelles in 2009 for use in countering piracy in and around the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
If the Air Force is in line for a big budget bump from President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget in 2027, the head of Air Combat Command said he would make aircraft spare parts his top spending priority—but cautioned that more money to buy parts won’t equal a…
