Nellis AFB 42d ATKS MQ-9 Jet Black Lithograph

Nellis AFB 42d ATKS MQ-9 Jet Black Lithograph art. 

The 42nd Attack Squadron (42 ATKS) is part of the 432nd Wing at Creech AFB, NV. We are right outside of Las Vegas. It operates the MQ-9 Reaper in multiple AORs across the world. We are a 24 hour operations squadron, and were the first MQ-9 attack squadron in the US Air Force. The squadron members are referred to as the Death Dealers.

The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (formerly named Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remote controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF). The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the USAF to indicate their human ground controllers. The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance. In 2006, the then–Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General T. Michael Moseley said: “We’ve moved from using UAVs primarily in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance roles before Operation Iraqi Freedom, to a true hunter-killer role with the Reaper”.