FARGO (KFGO) - The North Dakota Air National Guard's 119th Wing is in the midst of transition to a new, remotely piloted aircraft. The change-over is about 75% complete and takes about a year.
The RPA's, known to most of us as drones, have been flown by the Happy Hooligans since 2007. The current model, the MQ-1 Predator, is being retired, replaced by the MQ-9 Reaper. A fact sheet says the Reaper is an armed, multi-mission, medium altitude, long endurance aircraft, used primarily for air strikes and intelligence gathering.
119th Commander Kent Olson says the conversion is going smoothly. The transition takes a year. The time-line depends on availability of training classes for the pilots.
He says most missions are routine, providing hi-definition video and tracking people in Southwest Asia. The RPA's are launched from oversea's.
Colonel Olson says, "people think all they (RPA's) do are air strikes, obviously they do, but our main mission is kind of boring, gathering intelligence. They call it full motion video."
There are three person crews, each supported by meteorologists, intelligence analysts and communication specialists. Crews at the Fargo base are on duty 24/7.