{"id":53108,"date":"2018-07-29T14:35:43","date_gmt":"2018-07-29T14:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/29\/us-confirms-drones-in-niger-have-striking-capabilities\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:46:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:46:17","slug":"us-confirms-drones-in-niger-have-striking-capabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/29\/us-confirms-drones-in-niger-have-striking-capabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"US confirms drones in Niger have striking capabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DAKAR, Senegal \u2014 The United States started <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/global\/mideast-africa\/2017\/12\/01\/us-official-niger-oks-armed-drones-for-takeoff-from-its-capital\/\" target=_blank>arming drones in the West African nation of Niger<\/a> earlier this year, according to the U.S. Africa Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;In coordination with the Government of Niger, U.S. Africa Command has armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft already in Niger to improve our combined ability to respond to threats and other security issues in the region. Armed ISR aircraft began flying in early 2018,&#8221; Samantha Reho, spokeswoman for U.S. Africa Command, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The armed drones are currently deployed to Niger&#8217;s Air Base 101 in Niamey. The effort was supported by Niger, and is part of the long-term strategic partnership between the U.S. and Niger to help counter violent extremists in the region, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a matter of operational security, Reho said she could not discuss whether strikes have already been carried out by the armed drones.<\/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\/2018\/04\/23\/us-builds-drone-base-in-niger-crossroads-of-extremism-fight\/\" 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\/AP18113333388430.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\">US builds drone base in Niger, crossroads of extremism fight<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">On the scorching edge of the Sahara Desert, the U.S. Air Force is building a base for armed drones, the newest front in America\u2019s battle against the growing extremist threat in Africa\u2019s vast Sahel region.<\/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\">MQ-9 drones currently flying out of Niger&#8217;s capital will eventually be moved to Nigerien Air Base 201, which is being built in Agadez, on the scorching edge of the Sahara Desert. The new base is part of efforts by the U.S. to battle the growing extremist threat in Africa&#8217;s vast Sahel. The $110 million project is the largest troop labor construction project in U.S. history, according to Air Force officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adding striking capabilities to the drones is a major step forward in the fight against extremist threats that include al-Qaida-linked fighters in Mali and Burkina Faso, Islamic State group-affiliated fighters in Niger, Mali and Nigeria and the Nigeria-based Boko Haram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drones have a range enabling them to reach a number of West and North African countries.<\/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\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/13\/following-niger-ambush-pentagon-promises-more-air-support-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=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4312668.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\">Following Niger ambush, Pentagon promises more air support in Africa<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">After contact with the enemy, it took an hour and a half for the first American aircraft to arrive overhead the battlefield where four U.S. soldiers were killed near the village of Tongo Tongo, Niger, on Oct. 4.<\/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\">The U.S. military received approval from Niger to arm drones months after an October ambush by Islamic State group-linked extremists killed four U.S. soldiers and four Nigerien soldiers just outside the village of Tongo Tongo. Two American soldiers and eight Nigerien forces were also wounded in the attack by more than 100 militants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Air Force has said that intelligence gathering by the drones can also be used by Niger and other U.S. partners for prosecuting extremists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The United States Africa Command says the U.S. started arming drones in the Central African nation of Niger earlier this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65473,"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":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,23,93,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2901],"class_list":["post-53108","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-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FDKPXLKX3ZBGTIJPQXQGJXWJ7U","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/29\/us-confirms-drones-in-niger-have-striking-capabilities\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US confirms drones in Niger have striking capabilities - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The United States Africa Command says the U.S. started arming drones in the Central African nation of Niger earlier this year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/29\/us-confirms-drones-in-niger-have-striking-capabilities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US confirms drones in Niger have striking capabilities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The United States Africa Command says 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