MQ-9, 53rd TMG DET 4, 556 TES Jet Black Lithograph

MQ-9, 53rd TMG DET 4, 556 TES Jet Black Lithograph art. – The units represented in this artwork are brother/sister organizations.

Detachment 4 of the 53d Test Management Group (53rd TMG), located at Creech AFB, Nev., is responsible for the management of MQ-9 testing including force development evaluations, tactics development and evaluations, and software evaluations. Squadron personnel direct operational test planning and execution, as well as data gathering, analyzing, and reporting for the MQ-9 operated by the CAF. Results and conclusions support DoD deployment and employment decisions.

The 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron (556 TES) is the Air Force’s first operational test squadron for unmanned aircraft. It provides support to UAS operations worldwide, through force development evaluations, the development of training, tactics and procedures, systems expertise and meeting warfighters’ urgent need requests. The 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 53d Test and Evaluation Group, Detachment 4at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.

The MQ-9 Reaper (formerly named Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remote controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF). The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the USAF to indicate their human ground controllers. The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance.