Niger Air Base 201 (also known in some sources as "Nigerien Air Base 201") is a United States
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
airbase near
Agadez
Agadez ( Air Tamajeq: ⴰⴶⴰⴷⴰⵣ, ''Agadaz''), formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also ...
, Niger.
The base is about 5 km southeast of Agadez. It is owned by the Nigerien military but built and paid for by the United States. It is operated by the U.S. military as a drone base. As of February 2018, the site consists of a runway, still under construction, a hangar, and numerous smaller buildings for personnel to work and live in.
Operations
The U.S. military presence at Base 201 began on April 19, 2016. Once complete, the runway will be big enough to accommodate both
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
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 Unit ...
armed drones as well as the much larger
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...
transport airplanes.
Construction was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.
However, delays have pushed the completion estimate to mid-2019. Runway construction is being undertaken by the 31st Expeditionary
.
In July 2019, the
409th Air Expeditionary Group
The 409th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE), which may activate or inactivate the group as needed at any time.
The group was first activated in June 1943 du ...
and the
411th Civil Affairs Battalion are stationed at the base.
ISR flights officially began on November 1, 2019.
Construction
The amount of
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
50 million was approved by Congress for the base, but the cost may end up exceeding $100 million.
The base was originally planned to be operational by the end of 2018, but delays have caused the completion date of the base to be pushed to mid-2019.
The Air Base was described by U.S. officials as the largest construction project led by the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
.
A report by the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
Inspector General criticized the project for skirting congressional oversight, failing to complete an adequate site survey, and not constructing the base to meet safety, security, and other technical requirements, findings that were disputed by the Air Force and
U.S. Africa Command
The United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM, U.S. AFRICOM, and AFRICOM), is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U ...
.
See also
*
List of United States drone bases
This is a list of United States drone bases, containing military bases from which the United States operates unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, cr ...
*
*
Operation Juniper Shield - Niger
American intervention in Niger refers to the deployment of Special Forces (United States Army), special forces and drones both Unmanned aerial vehicles, unarmed and unmanned combat aerial vehicle, armed by the United States Armed Forces, United ...
References
External links
Online BBC press article: War in the desert – Why the Sahara is terror's new front line. By Firle Davies & Alastair Leithead. Published 21 June 2018 on BBC.co.uk*
PBS NewsHour
''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virg ...
published on April 16, 2019
{{Authority control
Airports in Niger
Military installations of the United States
Agadez Region
Military of Niger