Robins Air Force Base welcomes new drone maintenance bay

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT)- The Air Force is known for its massive fleet of aircraft that travel all over the globe, one of these planes however is not flown by people in the traditional sense. The plane in question is a drone known as the MQ-9 Reaper and Robins Air Force Base is about to get some hands on experience with the internal electronics of them.

According to RAFB, the MQ-9 is used for global reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence and has a built in camera on its underside that sends real time images back to control centers. The internal electronics will now have a dedicated maintenance bay within the Robins Logistics Complex, the new bay was made possible thanks to a partnership with L3Harris Technologies. Leaders of the project lead a ribbon cutting ceremony in honor of the bay’s opening. Chris Barkley, the director of the 402nd Electronics Maintenance Group explained what all the new bay would entail.

“What we’re responsible for doing here is fixing components to support that airplane and continue to provide secure communications of the information flow back and forth between the aircraft and where the information needs to go,” Said Barkley.

Barkley also mentioned that within the next year or so they would be looking to add more people onto the team, and that those who are interested in the maintenance of the MQ-9’s components will want to have a background in electronics and engineering.