US Air Force retires Predator remotely piloted aircraft

THE US Air Force (USAF) retired its General Atomics MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) on March 9. The final operational flights of the USAF’s Predator brought to an end 23 years of almost continuous operations by the type. The decommissioning was marked by the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, and the final flight in the US was accomplished by an MQ-1B controlled by the resident 489th Attack Squadron (ATKS). Meanwhile, at approximately the