A Syria drone crash of a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper on Tuesday prompted American coalition forces to destroy the remote-controlled aircraft on the ground afterwards, according to the Air Force.
The Reaper was on a combat mission in northern Syria when it went down after "positive control of the aircraft was lost," said an
Air Force release. The drone was not brought down by enemy fire, said the Air Force.
"There are no reports of civilian injuries or damage to civilian property at the crash site," said the Air Force. "The MQ-9 was destroyed by coalition aircraft and is not in enemy hands. An investigation board will convene to determine the specific cause of the crash."
The
Air Force Times said Reapers have been regularly used in the air campaign against the Islamic State, noting that Reapers and MQ-1 Predators have flown about one-third of all Air Force sorties against the extremists.
A Reaper crashed during a Nevada training mission north of Las Vegas on June 7 and the Air Force is still investigating the cause of that incident, said the Times.
The MQ-9 Reaper drones are armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude aircraft piloted remotely, according to the Air Force. The drones are used against what the Air Force describes as "dynamic execution targets and secondarily as an intelligence collection asset."
Because it can stay in the air for long periods of time with wide-range sensors, multi-mode communications suite, and precision weapons, the Reaper can provide "a unique capability to perform strike, coordination, and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets," said the Air Force.
The Air Force has 165 MQ-9A Reapers in its inventory and another 130 MQ-1B drones as of last Sept. 30, according to the website
Defense Tech. The website said the drones account for more than half of the Air Force's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance fleet.
The MQ-9 drones are able to fly up to 50,000 feet and 230 miles per hour — twice as fast as the MQ-1, noted Defense Tech.
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