Three MQ-9 Reapers head to Hawaii for maritime-focused exercise

摘要

Three MQ-9 Reapers are participating in a weeks-long exercise in Hawaii that allows the drones to showcase their maritime tactics, techniques and procedures, ahead of a planned transfer of a handful of the aircraft to Marine Corps Base Hawaii in the years ahead. As part of the Agile Combat Employment Reaper exercise, which is being held at the base between Sept. 8 and Oct. 8, two MQ-9s flew to Hawaii for the first time from the continental United States - one from Holloman Air Force Base, NM, and another from Creech Air Force Base, NV. Those two Reapers, joined by a third that was shipped to Hawaii, are demonstrating a host of maritime capabilities, Lt. Col. Jaime Olivares told Inside Defense in a recent interview, including using the drones' synthetic aperture radar to "find and detect a variety of maritime vessels." "This capability allows us to locate maritime vessels at long distances, coupled with our ability to have persistence over an area and fly for a long time, really enhances the situational awareness that we can give to combatant commands in locations that are difficult to access," said Olivares, Holloman AFB's 9th Attack Squadron commander.