Aerospace Group:

MQ-9 Reaper Flies First Iraq Mission

DDN

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

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By Marina Malenic The Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper flew its first operational mission over Iraq yesterday, the service said in a statement released from Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad. The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)-built Reaper, also known as Predator B, became operational last year. It has flown approximately 480 sorties, totaling more than 3,800 flight hours, over Afghanistan since arriving there in September 2007, according to the Air Force. The heavily armed Reaper has a maximum payload capacity…

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