Page 5 - Desert Lightning News, Nellis-Creech AFB Edition, August 19, 2022

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MQ-9 showcases capabilities to Joint Force during first-time Valiant Shield participation
August 19, 2022 5 Facebook.com/NellisDesertLightningNews
By 1st Lt. Lindsey Heflin
Eglin AFB, Fla.
The 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., recently validated the MQ-9 Reaper’s agility and proved mission relevance to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s Joint Force through their participation in the Valiant Shield exercise.
Valiant Shield provides a versatile venue to test current and new technologies and platforms through integration across U.S. forces. This marks the first time an Operational Test MQ-9 participated in an exercise of this magnitude.
The primary objectives of the MQ-9 OT team during the biennial event were to prove Reaper Agile Combat Employment in the Pacific Theater, integrate with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense’s experimental division’s killchain acceleration effort, and test maritime capabilities and integration tactics. Additionally, they set out to evaluate long-range hellfire employment and assess an Electronic Support Measures pod, Command and Control Common Operating Picture integration, and the Cavok Tactical Situation Display for aircrew.
During the exercise the 556th TES conducted 24/7 operations for 19 days straight over an area spanning 9,000 miles; from Creech to three separate operating locations in the Pacific.
Aircrew conducted all sorties from Creech using
Satellite Communications for all taxi and airborne procedures. The singular exception was a specific Line- of-Sight recovery test used to validate the Ruggedized Aircraft Maintenance Test Stand’s ability to take con- trol and command the landing of an arriving lost-link aircraft. This test concluded by taxiing the aircraft back using the enhanced-taxi capability inherent in the new 2410 flight software version under control by the RAMTS.
“The ability for the plane to land itself lost-link was validated upon initial arrival to Andersen AFB with the
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Air Force photographs
MQ-9 showcases capabilities to Joint Force during first-time Valiant Shield participation.
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