In 2015, a former member of the 42nd Attack Squadron saw a need to improve communications from MQ-9 Reaper aircrew to ground forces, thus, Frankenphone was created. He pieced together the invention, which aimed to improve communications clarity until a long term solution was procured, with scrap phone parts and headsets. While the device underwent…
Eye in The Sky: MQ-1, MQ-9s Provide Increased Awareness
Situational awareness is the ability to know what is happening around a person at any given time. This is especially important for military members, more specifically, troops on the ground. For the men and women operating MQ-1B Predator and MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, their skills of providing unmatched SA is highly demanded from the…
The Evolution Of The Combat RPA
In the 1980s, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency added modern-day technology to the decades old idea of using remotely piloted aircraft for reconnaissance purposes. As a result the Air Force immediately purchased a long-endurance RPA called the GNAT 750, resulting in the creation, production and development of the RQ-1 Predator of the early 1990s.…