Hill AFB to maintain 2 unmanned aircraft

Hill Air Force Base maintenance specialists will get yet another chance to peer under the "hood" of state of the art aircraft after a Wednesday announcement that the northern Utah base was selected to maintain systems on two unmanned aerial vehicles.

The vehicles are the MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper, weapon systems and accompanying components for which the Ogden Air Logistics Center was jockeying to be the depot for inspections, repairs and remote flight control.

The announcement was made by Utah's congressional delegation, with the decision lauded as yet another fortification of Hill's viability in the country's defense system. Hill already has had maintenance agreements for the A-10, F-22 and is hopeful of securing "garage rights" to the F-35 Joint Strike fighter jets.

The latest additions to Hill's stable comes after the Utah delegation urged the Air Force last year to make the pick to sustain the drone operations.

"These UAVs, with their advanced sensors, precision munitions and long-lingering capability, have become some of the most effective weapons in the Global War on Terror," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, pointed to the base's proximity to the Utah Test and Training Range as an important factor to support UAV maintenance efforts.

"Unlike other locations, having the UTTR close by is a big factor in being able to adequately check out these weapons systems to ensure they are ready to rejoin military operations."

Both types of UAVs, commonly called armed drones, have been used extensively in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and in Afghanistan for surveillance and attacks on insurgent positions.

There are 110 MQ-1 Predators in the Air Force's inventory, one of which was shipped last month to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing in Iraq — still packed in its crate.

According to the Wing's public affairs specialists, the aircraft — which had never seen flying time — was assembled, tested and ready for flight. A multitude of controls were operated from the ground at the desert base, and the drone took off with no problems.

Just this month, a leading manufacturer of the Predator announced that the aircraft had surpassed the 500,000 flight hour milestone, with 87 percent of those hours achieved in combat. The MQ-1 Predator, particularly, has flown more than 330 combat missions in the nearly three years it has been deployed. It fires what has been described as "Hellfire" missiles.

While not as plentiful — there are 10 in the military's inventory — the Reaper delivers laser-guided missiles as well as 500-pound bombs.

With the persistent buildup of troops in Afghanistan to counter mounting pressures by the Taliban, Air Force officials believe there will be increased demand for air support by the drones.

An airpower summary by the U.S. Central Command Air Forces described an encounter just this week at an illegal checkpoint near Kandahar, Afghanistan, where a Reaper used a Hellfire missile in coordination with U.S. ground forces.

E-MAIL: amyjoi@desnews.com