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An inside look at U.S. drone operations amid search for hostages

Since Oct. 7, unarmed U.S. drones have been flying above Gaza. They are using cameras to search for more than 200 hostages who were taken into the enclave by Hamas over a month ago.

Col. Nicholas Pederson told NBC News he thinks the Air Force’s work “could play a critical role if we get to that area.”

“Hunters,” as the pilots and their crews are called, operate the drones and cameras from mobile containers in the Nevada desert. The remote pilots get an exact view of what the drone camera sees, tracing targets for days to years.

The cameras “can collect data from a forest fire or pinpoint a high-value target,” streaming back to the U.S. base by satellite. The drones can also be lethal.

“We’re watching a lot of these targets. We watch them do horrendous acts against people. We focus more on the mission aspect of it and our ‘why’ and really just look at the big picture of the impact we are having,” one pilot said.