U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) says it is building an “operating location” for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in central Niger to enhance its collection of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) information on the continent.
At Nigerien Air Base 201 in Agadez, U.S. military engineering squadrons and contractors are improving the runway and basic life-support facilities, AFRICOM spokeswoman Samantha Reho said Oct. 23. The U.S. Air Force plans to erect aircraft maintenance shelters and make other improvements.
U.S. forces currently operate ISR aircraft out of Nigerien Air Base 101 in Niamey in western Niger. But Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser told reporters in March that AFRICOM was working with authorities in Agadez to provide a UAV operating site there.
“Due to the vast geography of Africa, Agadez is an ideal, central location to enable ISR collection to face the security threat across the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin region,” Reho said. “The location in Agadez will improve U.S. Africa Command’s capability to facilitate intelligence sharing that better supports Niger and other partner nations, such as Nigeria, Chad, Mali and neighbors in the region, and will improve our capability to respond to regional security issues.”
Reho declined to specify what types of UAVs will be stationed at the new location, citing “operational security” reasons.
The recent deaths of four U.S. soldiers in a firefight in Niger has highlighted the military’s growing counter-terrorism role in Africa. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon Oct. 23 that an American UAV that was operating in the area was re-tasked to collect full-motion video to support troops involved in the skirmish.
Air Force Undersecretary Michael Donovan said the service is giving warfighters as much ISR support as possible.
“In general, ISR is in insatiable demand from the combatant commands,” Donovan told reporters after speaking at an Aviation Week Network conference Oct. 23. “We fulfill as much as we can.”