Reaper drones to fly out of Drum - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Reaper drones to fly out of Drum

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Unmanned Reaper drones are expected to begin flying training missions out of Fort Drum as soon as the Federal Aviation Administration gives the OK.

The MQ-9 Reapers will be confined to restricted military air space within a radius of 30-50 miles of the army installation in northern New York. FAA approval is expected within a week.

Air National Guard pilots from the 174th Fighter Wing at Hancock Field in Syracuse will remotely control the flights. Maj. Jeff Brown of the 174th says the plan is to fly just one Reaper at a time for now.

The Reaper is used for intelligence-gathering, combat search and rescue, and ground attacks. Army officials say the pilots will randomly pick out targets such as buildings and vehicles to observe during the training flights.