Weapons

Air Force Reaper to Get New Weapons; Increased Arsenal Will Enable the Reaper to Destroy Smaller, Moving Targets

The Air Force is in the early phases of adding new weapons to the Reaper drone platform, a large 66-foot unmanned system able to conduct aerial surveillance and weapons attacks in key areas across the globe.

The Reaper currently fires the AGM-114 Hellfire missile, a 500-pound laser-guided weapon called the GBU-12 Paveway II, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions or JDAMs which are free-fall bombs engineered with a GPS and Inertial Navigation Systems guidance kit, Air Force acquisition officials told Scout Warrior.  JDAM technology allows the weapons to drop in adverse weather conditions and pinpoint targets with “smart” accuracy.