A twin-engine U.S. spy plane used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan has been conducting surveillance over northeastern Nigeria in the search for the schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram terror group, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The Air Force MC-12W Liberty, the military version of the Hawker Beechcraft Super King Air 350, and its crew of four has flown several Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions this week in the effort to locate the girls aged 16-18 who were abducted from their school in the town of Chibok on April 14, the officials said.
In addition, a Northrup Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, the huge drone that the Air Force sees as the replacement for the U-2 spy plane, has flown at least one mission over Nigeria, NBC News reported.
The MC-12W normally carries two pilots and two sensor operators, and is equipped with electro-optical and infrared sensors, as well as signals collection gear, according to the Air Combat Command.
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