Photos: 'Hunter-killer' takes to Afghan skies

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Meet the younger, meaner sibling of the MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle: the MQ-9 Reaper.

Whereas the older UAV was designed for operations such as surveillance and reconnaissance, the primary mission for the aptly named Reaper is to be a "persistent hunter-killer" drone, the first such device at the Air Force's disposal.

The Reaper has just begun a tour of duty in Afghanistan--that's where it is in this picture from October 1, and where it has flown daily missions since the last week of September. Despite its grim moniker, as of Friday the Reaper had yet to fire a weapon, according to the Air Force.

The Reaper outperforms the Predator in a number of ways. The MQ-9 can fly twice as high and nearly nine times farther, and carries a bigger munitions payload, the Air Force said. Both aircraft are built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.

Caption text by Jonathan Skillings/CNET News.com

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the hunter killer: I doubt that a prop driven aircraft can be made very stealthy. I suppose the propeller could be made from a radar absorbing material but the big rotating prop is pretty hard to make stealthy. The adva... (Read the rest); Posted by: fredh@... Posted on: 10/19/07 You are currently: Logged In | Log out