In 2007, the United States Air Force officially introduced the general atomics MQ-9 Reaper.
With its very first precision airstrike in Afghanistan, this advanced drone proved to be a formidable replacement for the MQ-1 predator one of the first ever combat drones.
The MQ-9 was the first unmanned hunter killer drone and was designed to accommodate the high altitude performance and increased endurance capabilities required for modern combat through a series of flight tests and touch and go landings.
It was found that the aircraft could reach heights of over 50 000 feet stay aloft for 14 hours and had a range of more than 1200 miles. In July 2008, the aircraft was considered operational after its deployment to Iraq but what really set the reaper apart from its predecessors was its armament. Watch video about this as below:
