US has agreed to purchase up to 16 Reaper drones from Australia defence contractor General Atomics to provide overhead coverage for Australian soldiers and conduct remote airstrikes. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne said the unmanned aircraft, which has a flight time of about 27 hours and is bigger than its predecessor the Predator, would give the Australian military the capability to stay in the sky for longer without risking aircrew safety. Reapers are piloted remotely from the ground. At a price of AUD23m ( $16.8m ) each, the whole contract will be worth at least AUD400 m when extras are factored in.
US has agreed to purchase up to 16 Reaper drones from Australia defence contractor General Atomics to provide overhead coverage for Australian soldiers and conduct remote airstrikes. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne said the unmanned aircraft, which has a flight time of about 27 hours and is bigger than its predecessor the Predator, would give the Australian military the capability to stay in the sky for longer without risking aircrew safety. At a price of AUD23m ( $16.8m ) each, the whole contract will be worth at least AUD400 m when extras are factored in.