The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It is outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.
The Reaper is loaded, but there is no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.
Ok, so it's not really a "robot attack squadron" as USA Today calls it, but it is the future of military aviation.
Lt. Gen. Gary North (commander of air operations in Iraq and Afghanistan) is quoted as saying: "With more Reapers, I could send manned airplanes home."
