{"id":60259,"date":"2021-01-24T17:29:45","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T17:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/24\/us-africa-command-says-one-of-its-drones-apparently-an-armed-gray-eagle-malfunctioned-in-niger\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:30:19","slug":"us-africa-command-says-one-of-its-drones-apparently-an-armed-gray-eagle-malfunctioned-in-niger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/01\/24\/us-africa-command-says-one-of-its-drones-apparently-an-armed-gray-eagle-malfunctioned-in-niger\/","title":{"rendered":"US Africa Command says one of its drones, an apparently armed Gray Eagle, malfunctioned in Niger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone, operated by U.S. Africa Command made an emergency landing near Agadez, Niger, on Saturday, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2021\/01\/17\/us-military-says-troop-withdrawal-from-somalia-is-complete\/\" target=_blank>U.S. Africa Command<\/a> spokesman told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe aircraft experienced a mechanical malfunction while conducting a routine mission in support of operations in the region,\u201d Air Force Col. Christopher Karns told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An investigation into the cause of the malfunction will take place, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/12\/04\/trump-orders-most-american-troops-to-leave-somalia\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Somalia1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump orders most American troops to leave Somalia. AFRICOM says they are redeploying elsewhere in region<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Without providing details, the Pentagon said in a short statement that \u201ca majority\u201d of U.S. troops and assets in Somalia will be withdrawn in early 2021.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe aircraft is under observation by U.S. forces with host nation cooperation and assistance,\u201d Karns said. \u201cAssessment and the process of recovery of the aircraft and safeguarding the site is underway. Due to force protection and operational considerations this is about all I can say. Early indications reflect a mechanical issue but an investigation is underway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Karns told Military Times the drone is an MQ-1C Gray Eagle, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esd.whs.mil\/Portals\/54\/Documents\/FOID\/Reading%20Room\/Selected_Acquisition_Reports\/FY_2019_SARS\/20-F-0568_DOC_58_MQ-1C_Gray_Eagle_SAR_Dec_2019_Full.pdf\"> a multipurpose drone<\/a> that \u201cprovides reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, command and control, communications relay, signals intelligence, electronic warfare, attack, battle damage assessment, and manned-unmanned teaming capabilities,\u201d according to the Defense Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AFRICOM\u2019s Twitter account confirmed the loss of the aircraft after being asked about social media postings of what appear to be an armed Gray Eagle drone, with a Hellfire missile still under its wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/12\/10\/africom-conducts-50th-airstrike-in-somalia-amid-us-troop-relocation-in-africa\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635951877590296344-united-states-somajpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">AFRICOM conducts 50th airstrike in Somalia amid US troop relocation in Africa<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The strikes come days after the Pentagon unveiled plans to remove a \u201cmajority\u201d of the 700 U.S. troops currently in Somalia from the country and relocate them.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe continue to work with African partners providing a range of assistance in the region to include a valuable threat detection capability via aerial overwatch,\u201d said Karns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/Niger?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Niger<\/a> atterrissage d\u2019urgence d\u2019un <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/MQ1C?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MQ1C<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/GrayEagle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GrayEagle<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/SkyWarrior?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SkyWarrior<\/a> dans la r\u00e9gion <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/Ingall?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Ingall<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/HellFire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HellFire<\/a> visible sous l\u2019aile gauche <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WoyCqYWuBw\">pic.twitter.com\/WoyCqYWuBw<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Wassim Nasr (@SimNasr) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SimNasr\/status\/1353293886584721409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">(1\/2) A U.S. Africa Command remotely piloted aircraft conducted an emergency landing in the vicinity of Agadez, Niger, Jan. 23. The aircraft experienced a mechanical malfunction while conducting a routine mission in support of operations in the region.<\/p>&mdash; U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) (@USAfricaCommand) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USAfricaCommand\/status\/1353372612978647040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AFRICOM officials say one of their drones malfunctioned and is on the ground in Niger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":98157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,13,24,89,16,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3237],"class_list":["post-60259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"F7YCTUH2CZEARHOZLL22UGPJGA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2021\/01\/24\/us-africa-command-says-one-of-its-drones-apparently-an-armed-gray-eagle-malfunctioned-in-niger\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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