MQ-9 TAKES TEST FLIGHT WITH EIGHT HELLFIRE MISSILES

摘要

The U.S. Air Force last month conducted the first flight of an MQ-9A Reaper that had been configured to carry eight AGM-114 Hellfire missiles - twice the number the drone normally carries. The 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada conducted the flight test Sept. 10, the Air Force said in a Sept. 30 release. A software upgrade, expected to be rolled out to MQ-9s by the end of the calendar year, made the expanded Hell-fire capacity possible, the Air Force said. Previously, Reapers could carry no more than four Hellfire missile (two on the outboard station of each wing).