MATTYDALE -- A Reaper takes off from an airfield in Afghanistan. The plane is the Air Forces newest, unmanned vehicle. It carries four times the firepower of its predecessor, the Predator, and can fly almost around the clock. The Air Force is betting its future on the Reaper, and pilots from the 174th are the first Air National Guardsmen to be trained to fly it.
Col. Kevin Bradley, Commander of the 174th, says the planes high tech camera gives troops on the ground an added layer of protection .
The MQ-9 Reaper can stay over the battlefield for more than fifteen hours compared to just two hours for the F-16. That extra time means extra support for troops on the ground.
Right now, the 174th has just one Reaper but, they plan to expand to fourteen as the Air Force continues to add more of the high tech drones to its arsenal.
Col. Bradley said, "We are going to see remotely piloted aircraft in a lot of places we'd never thought we'd see."
That is good news for more than one thousand people who work for the 174th and Central New York since the unit pumps more than a hundred million dollars a year into the local economy.
Bradley said, "We needed a new mission to continue to remain viable. We've been here since 1947 and we want to be here for the next two hundred years."
The 174th hopes to begin flying the Reaper out of Hancock Airfield within the next five years.
