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Drone Repair Program Opens at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma

It will be the first repair shop in the U.S. where privately manufactured drones will be repaired by a government entity.

A partnership between Tinker Air Force Base and San Diego, Calif.-based General Atomics Aeronautical will bring to the metro area the first repair shop in the nation where privately manufactured drones will be repaired by a government entity.

An ignition switch component for two drones used in overseas missions will now be repaired at Tinker’s Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center alongside the planes and jet engines the base currently works on every day.

The MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper, commonly referred to as “the world’s deadliest drone,” have been flying reconnaissance and information gathering missions for years, but are also equipped to deal deadly force when necessary.

Air Logistics Center Vice Director Kevin O’Connor said U.S. forces have flown more than 220,000 missions with drones.

“About 90 percent of those have been in combat situations,” O’Connor said.

“That tells you just how important these weapon systems, these drones, are to our military capability.”

O’Connor said two technicians have recently been certified to work on the drones at the facility, and two more drone components will soon also be repaired at the base.

“It’s really not the magnitude of jobs that it’s bringing into the center or the complex, it’s the monumental first step into this new market for us,” O’Connor said.

Scott Sappenfield, vice president of engineering services for General Atomics, said the partnership is the first step in what should be a new era of private drone manufacturers passing along technology to government entities.

Why Tinker Was Selected

He said Tinker was chosen for both the capabilities of its workers and the resources it can offer.

In 2012, Oklahoma became the first state to be utilized by the federal government as a testing site for small unmanned aircraft systems and is home to the first-in-the-nation graduate degree program with a focus on unmanned aerial system engineering, at Oklahoma State University.

©2014 The Oklahoman