June 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force reported Thursday that its new Block 5 variant of the MQ-9 Reaper drone has performed its first combat mission against Islamist terrorists.
The recent 16-hour sortie, flown June 23 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, involved the unmanned aerial vehicle dropping a GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions bomb and firing two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles in support of ground forces in the Middle East.