The Pentagon is closing a UAS drone base in Ethiopia and moving the unmanned systemsUAVs to other bases, according to the Washington Post.
MQ-9 Reapers flying out of the airfield at the southern Ethiopian city of Arba Minch have been flying surveillance missions since 2011 on the al-Shabab militant group in neighboring Somalia.
The Pentagon did not give specific reasons for the closure. However, the Washington Post noted that “the shutdown was unexpected. Just three months earlier, the U.S. Air Force signed a $6.7 million, three-year contract with an Ethiopian tourist lodge to provide housing and office space for about 130 personnel who ran the drone operations, documents show.”
Redeploying the Reapers comes amid shortages of UAS and pilots as the U.S. military strains to keep up with worldwide demand for surveillance missions.
