with an enlarged fuselage and wings lengthened from to . The B-001 had a speed of and could carry a payload of to an altitude of with an endurance of 30 hours. The company refined the design, taking it in two separate directions. The first was a jet-powered version; "Predator B-002" was fitted with a Williams FJ44-2A turbofan engine with thrust. It had payload capacity of , a ceiling of and endurance of 12 hours. The USAF ordered two airframes for evaluation, delivered in 2007. The first two airframes delivered with prototypes B-001 and B-002 (now in the USAF museum at Wright-Patterson AFB). B-002 was originally equipped with the FJ-44 engine but it was removed and a TPE-331-10T was installed so that the USAF could take delivery of two aircraft in the same configuration. The second direction the design took was the "Predator B-003", referred to by GA as the "Altair", which has a new airframe with an wingspan and a takeoff weight of approximately . Like the Predator B-001, it is powered by a TPE-331-10YGD turboprop. This variant has a payload capacity of , a maximum ceiling of , and an endurance of 36 hours. In October 2001, the USAF signed a contract for an initial pair of Predator Bs (001 and 002) for evaluation. Designated YMQ-9s due to their prototype role, they were delivered in 2002. The USAF referred to it as "Predator B" until it was renamed "Reaper". The USAF aimed for the Predator B to provide an improved "deadly persistence" capability, flying over a combat area night-and-day waiting for a target to present itself, complementing piloted attack aircraft, typically used to drop larger quantities of ordnance on a target, while a cheaper RPV can operate almost continuously using ground controllers working in shifts, but carrying less ordnance. Operation MQ-9 Reaper crews (pilots and sensor operators), stationed at bases such as Creech Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, Nevada, can hunt for targets and observe terrain using multiple sensors, including a thermographic camera. One claim was that the onboard camera is able to read a license plate from away. An operator's command takes 1.2 seconds to reach the drone via a satellite link. The MQ-9 is fitted with six stores pylons. The inner stores pylons can carry a maximum of each and allow carriage of external fuel tanks. The mid-wing stores pylons can carry a maximum of