U.S., British integrate UAV units

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, May 8 (UPI) -- The growing reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles in Afghanistan has resulted in a close collaboration between U.S. and British units.

Officials say the 42nd Expeditionary Attack Squadron has MQ-9 Reaper UAVs from the U.S. and British Royal Air Forces. The MQ-9 Reaper is bigger and more powerful than the U.S. Air Force's MQ-1 Predator UAV and is capable of destroying or disabling time-sensitive targets. Officials say the British and American UAV units have become integrated together for operations in Afghanistan, the Air Force reported.

"We have split crews," U.S. Maj. John Myers, the 42nd EATKS commander, said in a statement. "We have a British pilot and an American sensor operator and another crew is an American pilot and a British sensor operator. We are truly integrated, even down to the crew level."

British and American crews in Afghanistan are responsible for the takeoff and landing of the Reapers while Pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada fly the missions. With the integrated operations in Afghanistan, pilots at Creech AFB could be flying a British Reaper during certain operations and other times be flying an American one.

Officials say the relationship between the two air forces has become symbiotic in their combined support of British and American units on the ground.