US Deploys Eight MQ-9 Reaper Drones to Greece

The first four unmanned aerial vehicles were assembled in Larissa, while the rest arrived from American bases in Europe ready to take operational action, according to a report in the Ta Nea newspaper.

The upgraded MQ-9 Reaper drones are the most technologically advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the world.  

Two MQ-9 Reapers have operated in Larissa before, but they were older generations and at that time their mission was to monitor areas of northern Africa. This time, the Americans sent eight drones with their own operating platforms and personnel, although they are operated outside Greece.

They have a radius of action of 1,850 kilometers and will operate in the Aegean and the wider area of the eastern Mediterranean.

The deployment was conducted as part of an agreement signed on Nov. 1 between the US European Command (EUCOM) and the Greek army under the US-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA).

It was signed by Greek FM Dendias and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on October 14, 2021.

The Greek military said that the deployment of the drones was part of efforts to improve cooperation with allied forces and would “contribute to NATO’s interoperability and deterrence.”