Three Dutch MQ-9 Reaper aircraft will arrive in Romania in 2024. The Netherlands will send three MQ-9 Reaper drones to Romania, which will operate for six to 12 months at the Turzii airbase, the Ministry of Defense said.

• The Ministry of National Defense “welcomes the decision of the Dutch government to deploy three MQ-9 Reaper unmanned reconnaissance aircraft from the Royal Netherlands Armed Forces during 2024. The aircraft will operate for a period of six to 12 months from the 71st Campia Turzii Air Base and will be maintained at Campia Turzii by around 40 Dutch specialists.”

“This is a decision, first taken by the Netherlands, aimed at strengthening the defense of NATO’s eastern flank, and the aircraft will have a mission to collect, for preventive purposes, data and information to monitor the situation along NATO’s eastern border. territory to the Alliance,” the ministry reports.

In the past, the US has also sent MQ-9 Reaper drones to the Turzia Plain

In recent years, the U.S. military has consistently deployed troops and MQ-9 Reaper drones to Turzii Air Base. In fact, American troops with combat units were always present there.

From year to year, US military F-15 and F-16 fighter jets have arrived at Base 71 for exercises, and in 2019-2021, the US has sent MQ-9 Reaper attack drones to the Turzii plain several times.

On July 14, 2022, an American MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed near the Turziy plain while returning from a training mission. There were no explosives on board the drone, and there were no casualties as a result of the fall.

The MQ-9 Reaper drone used by the US and NATO for surveillance as well as attack

MQ-9 Reaper drone(photo) is an unmanned but remotely controlled aerial vehicle that is specially designed for both surveillance and reconnaissance missions, as well as target search and neutralization missions. One of the loudest examples of such a mission was the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad.

The US has about 300 MQ-9 Reaper drones, but they are also supplied to other NATO countries. The plane weighs 2.22 tons, has a range of 1850 km and 14 hours of operation. The drone is controlled by satellite, can fly at a maximum altitude of 15,240 meters and can carry up to four Hellfire missiles and two laser-guided GBU-12 Paveway II bombs.

The drone develops a maximum speed of 370 km/h and is driven by a propeller. It is manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, made its first flight 21 years ago and has been in service with the US military since 2007.

In March 2023, a Russian SU-27 fighter jet hit the propeller of a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, causing it to crash, sparking one of the most tense moments in Russia-NATO relations in recent years.

Photo: MQ-9 Reaper drone on the Turziy plain