The U.S. Air Force announced that U.S. and Romania have a standing partnership to address issues of regional and global security. To advance those interests, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, the air component of U.S. European Command, will operate General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft from the 71st Air Base, Campia Turzii, Romania, as a visible expression of U.S. efforts to enhance regional stability and to participate in various exercises in the region. This mission, starting in January 2020, has been fully coordinated with the Romanian government. It is designed to promote stability and security within the region and to strengthen relationships with NATO allies and other European partners.
The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF). The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the USAF to indicate their human ground controllers. The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance. The United States Air Force moved from using UAVs primarily in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance roles before Operation Iraqi Freedom, to a true hunter-killer role with the Reaper.
