Air Force accepts delivery of last Predator MQ 1 model manufactured for the service

Posted by John McHale
WRIGHT- PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio, 5 March 2011. The U.S. Air Force accepted MQ-1 Predator tail number 268, the last MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured for the service, in a ceremony at General Atomics' Gray Butte Aeronautical Systems' Flight Ops Facility. General Atomics continues to produce other Predator models such as the Predator B and Predator C Avenger.
"This event marks a milestone in Air Force history given the path this aircraft took from conception to operational excellence," says Col. Christopher Coombs, Aeronautical Systems Center's chief of medium altitude unmanned aerial systems (UAS) division. "The Predator is a great example of the Air Force's response to an immediate Warfighter need."
The MQ-1B Predator is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft. Its primary missions are close air support, air interdiction, and ISR (intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance). It acts as a Joint Forces Air Component Commander-owned theater asset for reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition in support of the Joint Forces Commander.
Since its first flight in July of 1994, the MQ-1 series has accumulated more than 900,000 flight hours and maintained a fleet fully mission capable rate over 90 percent, making it one of the warfighters most valuable assets, according to Col. Coombs.