FORT SMITH, Ark. — You may notice something a little different in the sky starting next week in the River Valley. The 188th Wing will be launching MQ-9 Reapers, an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft from the Fort Smith Airport.
“To say it’s a momentous day is an understatement," said Commander Patric Coggin.
Coggin said the planes are similar to drones because pilots operate the aircraft from the ground.
The Fort Smith base has trained pilots for years on how to fly these special aircrafts. But for a hands-on experience, they’ve had to go to different bases out of state even though we had the airspace in our own backyard.
According to Captain Bradley Kramer, over the years, just the hours spent going back and forth to train cuts into valuable time.
“So for us to be able to do that here and train locally is an amazing opportunity," said Kramer.
And while they’ve flown the planes many times before, out of state, it is the first time the airmen and the community will be able to witness an exercise like this close to home.
“We can show the fort smiths area what we’ve actually been doing for the last six years by demonstrating to them what aircraft we’ve been flying and showing them the combat mission we’ve been conducting the last four years and having that connection with the community," said Coggin.
The exercise called “establish fury” is scheduled to go until July 2. Depending on the weather for the next week, the exercise could end early.