US Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft, personnel and support equipment with the 52nd Expeditionary Operations Group Detachment 2 at Miroslawiec Air Base, Poland, have temporarily relocated to 71st Air Base at Campia Turzii Air Base, Romania, in support of a range of operations on the continent that support our NATO allies. This includes cold weather operations and participation in various exercises in the region.

 MQ-9 Reaper (Picture source: General Atomics)

The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper also called Predator B is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF). The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the USAF to indicate their human ground controllers.

The MQ-9s have been operating out of Poland  since May 2018, and this is the second time they have deployed to Campia Turzii. The first time was from July to August 2019 while the runway at Miroslawiec AB was undergoing construction.

This temporary move is expected to last through early spring and has been fully coordinated with the Romanian government. It is designed to promote stability and security within the region and to strengthen relationships with NATO allies and other European partners.