NY Reapers take to Skies over Alaska for Northern Edge 21 > Air National Guard > Article Display af.mil - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from af.mil Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
8 EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, ALASKA – Airmen from the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing spent two weeks in Alaska participating in Northern Edge 21, launching the remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper in the skies among the high-speed performance fighters of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from May 3-14.
The biannual exercise increases combat effectiveness among the various U.S. aircraft in conventional warfare. This is in contrast to years of missions flown in support of counterinsurgency and counter terrorism efforts by the 174th, based at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y.
“The purpose of the exercise is to shift from lower intensity conflict to great power competition,” said Lt. Col. Keith Walker, the deputy commander for the 174th Operations Group.
By
Theresa Hitchens on May 12, 2021 at 4:24 PM
An MQ-9 Reaper with three Ghost Reaper pods attached awaits takeoff at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, New York.
WASHINGTON: Upgrades to the MQ-9 Reaper’s comms and targeting capabilities are being demo’d by the Air National Guard (ANG) during the Northern Edge 2021 exercise in the Arctic, with a goal to help the venerable drone “play an increased, more prominent role in the command and control arena of the battlefield.”
The new pod-based capabilities will be flown onboard a 174TH ATKW MQ-9, according to a May 6 press release from the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing.