Ellsworth Air Force Base just outside of Rapid City controls a handful of remotely piloted aircraft called MQ-9 Reapers. Base officials say these unmanned aircraft are conducting surveillance, gathering intelligence, and performing reconnaissance missions in the skies over Afghanistan - from right here in South Dakota.
Mystery and speculation often surround remotely piloted aircraft – they’re known for being ultra-stealthy. They’re relatively quiet, they fly by night, and they’re unmanned so they’re able to venture deep into enemy territory to gather intelligence.
Military officials say the U.S. Air Force currently has as many as sixty-five remotely piloted aircraft operating over Afghanistan – a small percentage of those are controlled from right here in South Dakota.
Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City has more than two-hundred personnel including pilots, sensor operators, and intelligence personnel controlling their small fleet of MQ-9 Reapers.
We aren’t allowed to identify the “pilots” so one Reaper pilot and Ellsworth Senior Master Sargeant is going by Tom. He says with the help of aircraft like these, he is the eyes and ears for American ground troops.
“I see, I listen, I talk, and I type to guys who have their boots on the ground. We provide them protection, the look-around-the-corner, the what’s the bad guy doing next door – we protect them,” says Senior Master Sargeant Tom.
Senior Master Sargeant Tom says the MQ-9 Reapers are not housed at Ellsworth though - they are only remotely piloted from the base.
He says while in flight, each MQ-9 is operated by several people. The remotely piloted aircraft control room at Ellsworth is filled with computer screens. There are two seats in what looks similar to a flight simulator - one for the pilot and one for the sensor operator. They coordinate to control the flight of the aircraft with instruments like a joystick and a throttle. The pilot literally sees and hears what the ground troops are seeing and hearing.
Senior Master Sargeant Tom says the MQ-9 Reapers can stay in the air for more than twenty hours at a time and can operate in most weather conditions. He says they operate on jet fuel and can fly at speeds of up to two-hundred miles per hour.
“Our mission is not fast, our mission is enduring. We go forever. The plane is designed to stay up for a very long time – to keep that unblinking eye if you will over our troops,” says Senior Master Sargeant Tom.
Senior Master Sargeant Tom says MQ-9’s are designed to carry laser-guided bombs and other weapons and each aircraft comes with about a twelve-million dollar price tag.
Ellsworth Air Force Base’s Captain Jamie says it’s ground forces that primarily benefit from the remotely piloted aircraft. He says military personnel can essentially fight a war in a foreign country without leaving the Rapid City base.
“We’re able to provide not only precision-strike-capability to protect them from enemy forces but we’re also providing constant over-watch. For example, I spent up to six hours one mission just providing over-watch, and by that I mean ensuring that there was no enemy forces nearby while they slept. Giving that kind of peace of mind is really what’s satisfying about it,” says Captain Jamie.
Captain Jamie says operators at the base can relay intelligence information to ground troops almost instantaneously. He says that information is also simultaneously relayed to other military decision-makers.
The MQ-9’s were introduced to Ellsworth just over two years ago and it’s been a learning experience.
“The battlefield is a very dynamic place. Above all what we’ve learned is that we must train every day to ensure that we’re operating to the best of our capability and ensure that we’re not making mistakes,” says Captain Jamie.
Along with the remotely piloted aircraft control center, Ellsworth Air Force Base is still home to twenty-seven B-1 Bombers. Captain Jamie says he doesn’t know what the future holds for MQ-9’s or the B-1’s at Ellsworth but he says both crews work closely together to ensure optimum safety for American troops on the battlefield.