The US Air Force has begun using manned aircraft to train aircrew to fly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in absence of enough trainer UAVs to practise on.

The air force has installed a Predator Ball under the wing of a CAP Air Force Cessna 182 aircraft to allow it to act as a Predator or Reaper UAV.

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The manned aircraft is serving as a training simulator for aircrew since most UAVs are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan missions.

The Cessna is only being used as a camera platform to stream live videos to trainees as they sort out their battlefield priorities.

Further training will be required, however, to train CAP pilots how to control the aircraft.

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