In November 2017, an MQ-9 Reaper UAV conducted a successful air-to-air intercept of a small aerial drone target. Although an unclassified event, reports of the intercept only received public attention in mid-September 2018 following an interview with U.S. Air Force Colonel Julian Cheater, who leads the 432nd Wing drone unit. The MQ-9 fired a heat-seeking air-to-air missile (likely an AIM-9X Sidewinder) at the unspecified target.