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The Duffel Brief · the free edition, Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Vol. 15 · No. 132 · Wednesday, 4 November 2026

Pentagon

Pentagon confident U.S. will be ready for 2027 war with China by 2035

Officials cite historically proven American strategy of entering wars completely unprepared

Hegseth wears Eisenhower's globe as Halloween costume

Spirit Halloween store to become pop-up ICE detention center

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Vol. 15 · No. 132

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Duffel Blog

Established 2012 · Deployed worldwide

Vol. 15 · No. 132 · Deployed worldwide

Wednesday

4 November 2026

1329 Zulu

Next edition Friday

← Front page
· Page 2

UAV sick of being told he's not a real pilot

Filed · 1537

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is claiming the Air Force is discriminating against him because he is not human.

The MQ-9 Reaper has flown thousands of hours in combat missions, but says the Air Force has refused to award him pilot wings.

"I get more combat flight time in a week than every F-22 pilot in history combined," says the Reaper. "And not once have the guys invited me out to tell people we’re pilots and talk about how we’re so much more awesome than everyone else.”

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