A United State African Command (AFRICOM) attack drone, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, on Saturday crashed near Agadez, Niger Republic, making it the third unmanned aircraft to crash in the West African country in the last one year.
AFRICOM confirmed the incident on its official Twitter page.
Reports say it was an armed Gray Eagle drone, with a Hellfire missile still under its wing.
On April 23, 2020, another drone crashed after experiencing mechanical failure. Two months earlier, an American drone crashed in the Agadez region on February 29, 2020.
“A… remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) was lost near Agadez, Niger, April 23,” US Africa Command said in an email to AFP. “US forces secured the RPA on April 24. Reports indicate the RPA experienced mechanical failure. The RPA was not lost due to any hostile action,” it said.
A drone crashed in the Agadez region on February 29, the US military announced after that loss, saying that the incident was also due to mechanical failure.
According to the website Military Times, the drone lost in February was an MQ-1 Predator, a long-endurance aircraft.
AFRICOM’s spokesman, Air Force Col. Christopher Karns, said the aircraft in the latest incident suffered a technical fault while conducting a routine operation around the area.
He said the aircraft is under observation by U.S. forces with host nation cooperation and assistance.
“Assessment and the process of recovery of the aircraft and safeguarding the site is underway,” Karns said.
