A US Air Force General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper has become the first remotely piloted aircraft to hit a maritime target, after an exercise over the Gulf of Mexico.
An MQ-9, from the 26th Weapons Squadron, fired an AGM-114 Hellfire missile at a sea-going target during a joint service training exercise on March 17. The US Air Force has stated that it was the first instance of a remotely piloted aircraft hitting a maritime target.
"It was the first time we had put live weapons into boats and participated in maritime (exercises)," said Capt. Timothy Ford, a 26th Weapons Squadron flight commander. "For our (RPA) community it's a big step forward, it's a mission set we had looked at for a long time and training opportunities over water are not very prevalent (at Nellis)."
Through this exercise, the MQ-9 demonstrated its abilities in destroying sea-going targets, and coordinating with other aircraft such as Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, F-16 Fighting Falcons and F-35A Lightning IIs.
The 26th WPS is a squadron assigned to the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, , based at Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas in the Nevada desert. The WPS trains tactical experts and leaders in integrated battlespace dominance across the land, air, space and cyber domains.
"As soon as it does become a situation where the shooting happens, we're the ones with the situational awareness because we've been there so long and we're able to pass that on to other fighters as they check in and build their situational awareness," Ford said. "That's our role in a lot of mission sets. It's nice to be able to prove it in a maritime environment."