The MQ-9 Reaper has now successfully destroyed a drone cruise missile target with the well-known and highly effective AIM-9X<\/a> precision air-to-air missile. The AIM-9X fires from the F-35<\/a> as well as the F-22<\/a> and has in recent years been upgraded with improved precision-guidance technologies and \u201coff boresight\u201d targeting, enabling pilots to destroy enemy targets behind the aircraft<\/a>. This is quite significant, as \u201coff-boresight\u201d technology can actually guide the AIM -9X to turn around and change course while in-flight using a pilot\u2019s helmet-mounted cueing system. This massively expands the Reaper\u2019s target envelope.<\/p>\n \u201cSept. 3, 2020, at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. The MQ-9 successfully employed a live air-to-air test of an AIM-9X Block 2 missile against a target BQM-167 drone simulating a cruise missile,\u201d an\u00a0Air Force report<\/a>\u00a0said.<\/p>\n NEW AIR FORCE STEALTH BOMBER ARRIVES IN JUST ‘2 YEARS’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Engineering a Reaper for air-to-air combat<\/a>\u00a0missions does seem to represent a sensible and technically advanced evolution of the platform, greatly expanding its mission purview. Armed with an AIM-9X, a Reaper can perform new offensive or defensive operations by virtue of using the missile as an \u201cinterceptor\u201d stopping approaching enemy\u00a0cruise missiles<\/a>\u00a0or an offensive attack against enemy aircraft.<\/p>\n Given these possibilities, it seems quite likely that, should the weapon and\u00a0surveillance systems<\/a>\u00a0be integrated, a Reaper could use its long-range, high-fidelity cameras to identify an\u00a0enemy fighter<\/a>\u00a0jet, cargo aircraft or even a lower-altitude bomber. After doing so, the Reaper could directly destroy it, when commanded by a human decision-maker, without having to send details to another attack asset. Not only does this decrease latency but it also of course massively reduces sensor-to-shooter time<\/a>.<\/p>\n While engaging in dogfighting or high-speed aerial maneuvering<\/a> may not be super likely for a Reaper, adding these abilities will be important given that drones will soon be operated from the cockpit of a manned F-22 or F-35. This tactical possibility<\/a>\u00a0even further expands the mission envelope as a forward-operating Reaper could be directed to test enemy air defenses, conduct surveillance in high-risk areas under enemy fire and in some cases fire weapons when directed by pilots in the manned aircraft.<\/p>\n NEW AIR FORCE NUCLEAR-ARMED ICBMS TO DEPLOY BY 2029<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Adding the AIM-9X also further adds to the Air Force\u2019s long-standing plan to increase mission possibilities and new weapons to the Reaper. In recent years, the Air Force has added new fuel tanks to the drone as well as new technology enabling fire-control and management of different weapons.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The Reaper now fires the AIM-9X in addition to the AGM-114 Hellfire missile, a 500-pound laser-guided weapon called the GBU-12 Paveway II, and GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions or JDAMs. These are free-fall bombs engineered<\/a>\u00a0with a GPS and Inertial Navigation Systems guidance kit.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/a5ad1ce4-f1afb2544a6d29062a0f6a70670046d6.jpg\")