The U.S. Air Force’s Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has taken the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept one step further by having the MQ-9 operate in a simulated base situated behind enemy lines.
U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. James R. Wilson
The demonstration took place during Emerald Flag exercise that ran from Oct. 17-20.
Field 6 at Eglin Air Force Base was used for the simulation. A team of airmen secured Field 6 after arriving on board an MC-130J and cleared it for the MQ-9 to land and take off. The flight operations of the MQ-9 were carried out using Satellite Communications Launch and Recovery so that no Launch and Recovery Element was required at the site.
“We did this by using a small team, landing at a simulated forward operating base, refueling and continuing to fly the mission. All of this was accomplished with an extremely small footprint which opens up the possibility for using MQ-9s in places we could not reach previously,” according to a MQ-9 pilot from the 2nd SOS.
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