The House Appropriations Committee included a request that the Air Force submit a report on its Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle placement strategy in its recently passed 2014 Defense Appropriations bill.
The provision, authored by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), requests a detailed breakdown from the Air Force on its plans to use the MQ-9 Reaper UAV to eventually phase out the MQ-1 Predator drones.
“I continue to urge the Air Force to prioritize the replacement of MQ-1 Predators with MQ-9 Reapers at installations, like March Air Reserve Base, that already have training schoolhouses,” Calvert said. “I am hopeful that the Air Force’s MQ-9 placement strategy recognizes the benefits of the infrastructure and historical knowledge that’s already in place at the existing training facilities.”
The MQ-9 Reaper is larger and more powerful than the MQ-1 Predator, and is designed to execute time-sensitive targets with persistence and precision, and destroy or disable those targets, according to the Air Force.
The 163d Reconnaissance Wing currently operates a Predator Formal Training Unit at March Air Reserve Base. The unit’s schoolhouse Predators are stored, maintained, launched and recovered at Southern California Logistics Airport.
Calvert’s provision also request the report include the criteria by which the Air Force determines the order of priority for MQ-9 beddown locations and the impact that the MQ-1/MQ-9 transition will have on existing MQ-1 flying training units.