The U.S. Air Force began local deployment of remote pilot aircraft in the United Arab Emirates. Officials said Wednesday the EQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft at the Al Dhafra Air Base will perform beyond line-of-sight flight operations.
The aircraft’s maintenance team also partnered with the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron to carry out local missions without the need for base support.
“With everything being handled in house from all the maintenance to the satellite communication work, it has drastically reduced the time it took us to ‘Scramble the Hawks’,” said Seth Oatridge, ground communication technician for the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.
The EQ-4 is a variant of the RQ-4 aircraft and supports contingency, peacetime and wartime missions through the use of imagery, signal intelligence and targeting sensors.