Drones Are Now A Key Tool For The U.S. Military As It Conducts Combat Operations

U.S. airmen prepare a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone as it leaves on a mission at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan March 9, 2016. Picture taken March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Josh Smith

Josh Smith, Reuters: Drones emerge from shadows to become key cog in U.S. war machine

When U.S. drones obliterated a car carrying Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour last month, it was the kind of targeted killing that unmanned aircraft are best known for.

But 15 years after a drone first fired missiles in combat, the U.S. military's drone program has expanded far beyond specific strikes to become an everyday part of the war machine.

Now, from control booths in the United States and bases around the Middle East, Afghanistan and parts of Africa, drone crews are flying surveillance missions and providing close air support for troops on the ground.

"In the wars we fight, this is the future," said drone pilot Lieutenant Shaw, as he stood in a hangar at the Air Force's drone base in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

Crews spoke to Reuters on condition that only their first names and rank be used to identify them.

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WNU Editor: I have always said that drones (in the air, ground, and in the seas) are the future of warfare .... and we are seeing it play out right now.