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US chargé d'affaires ad interim in Bucharest, David Muniz, and commander of Aviano's 31st Fighter Wing Squadron, Brigadier General Jason E. Bailey, will visit on Thursday the 71st "General Emanoil Ionescu" Air Base in Campia Turzii - Cluj County, the Ministry of National Defense informs.
According to the cited source, this will be an occasion to discuss Air Force matters of common interest, such the contribution and role of the Romanian and the US Air Force within the NATO measures to reinforce the Alliance's eastern flank, as well as bilateral cooperation within the Romania - US strategic partnership.
An MQ-9 Reaper aircraft will be presented in a static display during the event.
A detachment consisting of MQ-9 Reaper aircraft and about 90 US Air Force personnel are being relocated over the next months to the 71st "General Emanoil Ionescu" Air Base in Campia Turzii.
The US troops will carry out intelligence, surveillance and research missions in support of NATO operations, and the Romanian Air Force will provide, through the 71st Air Base, the technical, operational and logistic support they need for their missions throughout their deployment to Romania.
The presence of the American partners in Romania is an opportunity to develop, test and asses the combat capability, as joint activities are key to increasing the level of interoperability between the two parties, the Defense Ministry said.
The US - Romania cooperation contributes to strengthening the collective defense capacity and to increasing regional security, the cited release notes.
The MQ-9 Reaper is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations; the aircraft is developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), primarily for the United States Air Force.
The personnel operating the aircraft are usually stationed in military facilities and can tackle targets and observe the terrain using multiple sensors, including a thermographic camera. The operator's command takes 1.2 seconds to reach the drone via a satellite link. The MQ-9 Reaper is equipped with six stores pylons that can each carry several hundred kilograms.
