Air Force Museum opens unmanned aircraft display

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force opened a display on Monday, Jan. 25, of an MQ-9 Reaper, an unmanned military aircraft deployed to locate and destroy enemy targets.

The remotely piloted aircraft also provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services to military commanders.

It is the latest addition to the museum’s collection of unmanned aerial vehicles, which includes the Predator and Global Hawk drones.

The museum’s Reaper is one of two pre-production models that were sent to Afghanistan. It was used for initial weapons testing and was the first Reaper to fly in Afghanistan, flying 254 combat sorties, museum officials said.