USAF Shoots Down Out-of-Control Drone Over Northern Afghanistan
September 22nd, 2009The manned fighter jets are still good for something!
Via: Security Management:
The United States Air Force (USAF) shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on Sunday morning after it lost control of the aircraft over a remote area in Northern Afghanistan.
The USAF does not know how or why operators lost control of the MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aircraft System. “We do not speculate on the cause of an aircraft mishap,” Captain Frank Hartnett, a spokesman for the Air Force, told Security Management. An investigation, however, will be conducted to find an answer, he said.
The Reaper was flying a combat mission when operators lost “positive control” of the UAV, or the ability to establish connections and send control inputs to the remote-controlled aircraft. When operators noticed the UAV was bound to exit Afghani airspace and all efforts to reestablish communication with the machine failed, the Air Force deployed an F-15E Strike Eagle to destroy it.
The fighter jet fired one Sidewinder missile at the Reaper, causing the UAV to crash into a mountain side. There was no report of civilian casualties or damage to civilian property, according to a USAF statement.
Harnett said the USAF has no knowledge of any similar incidents happening before. “This is the first MQ-9 Reaper crash that was due to loss of control,” he said.
The unit cost of Reaper drones, which includes four aircraft with sensors, is $53.3 million in fiscal 2006 dollars, according to the USAF. The UAVs are manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
