MQ-9 Reaper
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Image:MQ-9 in flight.jpg|left|thumb|250px|MQ-9 in flight]] Developed by the United States, and operated by the U.S. Air Force, U.K., Italy, Turkey, the UK and the US Border Patrol, the MQ-9 Reaper is medium-to-high altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle]]. It is a larger descendant of the MQ-1 Predator, but can be taken apart, put into shipping containers, and carried by a C-130 Hercules or larger aircraft. The drone aircraft can be used both as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform as well as a "hunter-killer" for armed reconnaissance]]. The Royal Air Force]] tends to emphasize the former and the United States Air Force]] the latter, but the same aircraft does both. Image:MQ-9 on ground.JPG|thumb|250px|MQ-9 on ground]] Since October 2009, in the Afghanistan War (2001-2021)]] aircraft are launched and recovered from U.S. Air Force facilities in Afghanistan, but operationally controlled from Creech Air Force Base]] in Nevada (U.S. state)|Nevada]] in the continental United States.[1] They are acknowledged to be flying in Afghanistan, and it is an open secret that they operate in Pakistan and possibly other nearby states, perhaps under Central Intelligence Agency]] operational control. General Characteristics[2]
SensorsFor direct viewing, it has an infrared sensor, a color/monochrome daylight TV and an image-intensified TV. These can be used separate video streams or fused with the IR sensor video. It will also have "a wide area airborne surveillance (WAAS) sensor developed by Sierra Nevada called Gorgon Stare, which can provide 12 different streams of full motion video simultaneously. "[3] Weapons
Afghanistan WarAn MQ-9 strike is reported to have killed the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yuldashev, an ally of the Taliban in Pakistan.[4] References
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