ROBOTS, DROIDS and DRONES: Air Commando Drone Makes History

DEFENSE.

An Air Force MQ-9 Reaper lands for the first time ever on a dirt landing zone during an Air Force Special Operations Command exercise near Fort Stockton, Texas, June 15, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo Airman 1st Class Alysa Calvarese )

Air Commando Drone Making History.

At a remote air strip just south of Fort Stockton in West Texas on June 15, 2023, airmen from five U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command units conducted the first ever MQ-9 Reaper drone landing on a dirt landing zone.

“This team of aircrew, maintainers, and special tactics Airmen have proven the Reaper can operate anywhere in the world and is no longer beholden to the ‘leash’ of perfectly paved runways or line-of-sight antennas traditionally used to take off and land the aircraft,” said Lieutenant Colonel Brian Flanigan, operations director of the 2nd Special Operations Squadron.

Historically, the MQ-9 Reaper, a large drone (or remotely piloted aircraft, as the Air Force prefers) has taken off and landed via line of sight of antennas, with aircrew members manually flying the aircraft. Now the MQ-9 can literally take off and land from anywhere in the world.

Flanigan noted this new concept meets the Air Force Reserve Command’s priorities of ‘Ready Now’ and transforming for the future.

“This capability will be critical in ‘tomorrow’s fight’ and nests perfectly with the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept that focuses on smaller footprints, distributed operations and increased survivability while generating combat power,” said Flanigan. “We are demonstrating what is possible when you leverage Citizen Air Commandos and our diverse backgrounds to take an existing capability like [Satellite Launch and Recovery] and apply it to the future fight.”

In addition to the 2nd Special Operations Squadron, the 727th Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and 311th Special Operations Intelligence Squadron teamed up with Airmen from 26th Special Tactics Squadron out of Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico to make history.

The 12th Aircraft Maintenance Unit from the 727th Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron supported the effort with a very small footprint in an austere location using (ACE) techniques, tactics and procedures it developed. Read more here.