NASA / DFRC / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY NASA / DFRC / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
MQ-9 Reaper spyplane. This unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), formerly called RQ-9 Predator B, is piloted remotely and powered by the propeller at the rear (left). The Predator systems were developed in the 1990s for the US military, but the MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV purpose-designed for long endurance and high altitude surveillance. Here, NASA's MQ-9 Reaper, the Ikana, has completed testing at the Edwards Air Force Base in California, USA, and is now flying to its new base at the Dryden Flight Research Centre, California.
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