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OC-ALC gears up for Predator work

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  • By John Parker
  • Staff Writer
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex on Thursday activated the Air Force's first depot-level overhaul/repair line to support the surveillance and attack missions of the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles.

"It's a very exciting event for the Air Force, for our partners in this workload activation - General Atomics Aeronautical Systems - and for the state of Oklahoma," OC-ALC Vice Director Kevin O'Connor said during the Bldg. 3001 ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 20.

"We just started this effort about six months ago," Mr. O'Connor said. "With the amount of progress that has been made with this activation and the collaboration and cooperative effort that has been put into this, I have no doubt that this is the beginning of an exceptional and outstanding relationship and partnership between the Air Force and
General Atomics."

Maria Donovan, General Atomics program manager, said, "We are all really personally excited at General Atomics that the Oklahoma City line will be the one to fully activate because from the beginning all the way up until the meetings we had yesterday, it's been a complete pleasure and everyone we've worked with has been the utmost professional."

The Predator and Reaper UAVs are remotely piloted workhorses for U.S. military missions around the globe. The MQ-1 and MQ-9 can both carry attack missiles and perform long-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions with a variety of sensors.

Last month, General Atomics' Predator/Gray Eagle series UAVs surpassed a combined 3 million flight hours, according to a press release. The company's aircraft have flown more than 220,000 missions, nearly 90 percent of them in combat.

The 76th Commodities Maintenance Group will be overhauling and repairing ignition assemblies for the UAVs. Kay Ford, supervisor with the 552nd Commodities Maintenance Support Squadron, said the components basically act as a spark plug to start the aircraft's engine.

The 76th CMXG expects to work on 275 to 375 ignition assemblies by the end of the fiscal year in September, Mr. O'Connor said.

Ignition assembly production is only the first of a growing workload involving UAVs at Tinker, he said.  Team Tinker members are currently preparing for overhaul and repair operations this spring for the UAVs' propeller pitch control and feather valve components, Mr. O'Connor said.

"It's the monumental first step into this new market for us. It could be big," Mr. O'Connor said. "As that market expands we want to be part of the consideration of where the Air Force and the Department of Defense can maintain these unmanned aerial vehicles.

"For us here at Tinker, it's a monumental step in the right direction," he said.
Mike Mowles, deputy director of the 76th CMXG, said the Predator and Reaper production will help secure future Tinker workloads.

"The 76th CMXG is extremely excited for the opportunity to bring in a cutting-edge workload on the unmanned aerial vehicles," Mr. Mowles said. "We are also pleased to have the chance to build a strong public/private partnership with a company like General Atomics. We sincerely believe this is just the first step in a long, positive relationship between OC-ALC and GA."