MQ-9 Reaper Conducts First-Ever Landing at Shaw AFB

  • Published
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C --  

An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft assigned to the 163rd Attack Wing at March Air Reserve Base, Calif., and piloted by Airmen from the 25th Attack Group at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., will land here Feb. 14, 2024.  

Sumter residents can expect to see an MQ-9 Reaper aircraft in the local area as the 25th Attack Group will be conducting routine training in local airspace.

The MQ-9 Reaper landing at Shaw AFB is a milestone marking operations for the 25th Attack Group in national airspace and is part of ongoing changes in operations which will enable the group to align its operations more closely to the Air Force Force Generation (AFFORGEN) model.

The landing at Shaw also demonstrates maintenance advancements. Aircraft maintainers from the 163rd Attack Wing will recover and generate the aircraft, using a portable aircraft control station. This reduces the downrange footprint and manpower requirement, enabling the RPA enterprise to get to any location in the world and set up an operation rapidly, in line with Agile Combat Employment (ACE) initiatives.

This training mission provides the 25th Attack Group MQ-9 Reaper crews the ability to train outside of combat missions, and fly missions to prepare crews for a diverse range of operations.

The MQ-9 Reaper is a multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that has a wide range of abilities, allowing them to participate in missions such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, close air support, combat search and rescue, precision strike and much more. The MQ-9's capabilities make it uniquely qualified to conduct operations in support of combatant commander objectives.

Though the MQ-9 is capable of collecting intelligence and conducting surveillance, it will not be doing so during its training mission at Shaw. 

The 25th Attack Group is a geographically-separated unit assigned to the 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. 

For more information, please contact 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs at 803-895-2019 or email 20fwpublicaffairs@us.af.mil.

 

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