MQ-9 Reaper Group coming to Shaw AFB

Shaw Air Force Base was approved as the location for a new unmanned aircraft unit whose aircraft deploy for combat missions overseas.

Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson said yes to bringing an MQ-9 Reaper Group, including mission control elements, to Shaw following the results of an Environmental Impact Assessment process.

The group includes personnel who operate the unmanned aircraft, which are deployed at other locations.

The base was selected as the preferred location last year and had to wait for the the assessment and a public comment period from Oct. 10-Nov. 8, 2017.

Assessments were done at five other locations, Deputy Base Civil Engineer Christopher Aamold the The Sumter Item in October.

During that interview, it was thought the group would set up shop at Shaw in stages, with the entire 487-person unit being there by this summer.

Deployment includes 378 airmen, 44 contractors, 18 security personnel and 47 support personnel.

According to an Air Force fact sheet, the Reapers are armed, remotely piloted aircraft employed primarily against "dynamic execution targets" and secondarily as an intelligence collection asset.

"It provides a unique capability to perform strike, coordination and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting and time-sensitive targets," the sheet says.

The MQ-9 can carry four laser-guided, air-to-ground 114 Hellfire missiles, the sheet says, and is also part of a system that supports strike aircraft and ground commanders by acquiring and tracking targets or providing other intelligence.