Your heart is pounding, your hands are wet through

A British Forces Broadcasting News report, 2017

The Predator MQ-1 entered US Air Force service in the 1990s. The first RAF unit to operate the aircraft was 1115 Flight which was formed in 2005 to train joint service crews in drone operations. Meanwhile a more capable aircraft was under development that entered service as the MQ-9, known in the RAF as the Reaper. RAF Reaper operations began in 2007, the Reaper being used primarily for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering although it can carry two 500lb bombs and four Hellfire missiles.