The Air Force announced yesterday that an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in southern Afghanistan on July 4. The crash was not due to hostile fire. The service said a board will be convened to investigate the incident. Based on Air Force data provided to us last week, the service had lost only one Reaper as of June 30 in Southwest Asia. It is not known if the newly crashed Reaper was destroyed or can be reused. USAF introduced the Reaper into Afghanistan in September 2007 and in Iraq last July.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
