As part of its ongoing expansion of operations in and around Africa, the U.S. military has recently begun operating drones from a Greek airfield. MQ-9 Reapers, the more advanced replacement for the venerable Predator drone, deployed last month to Larissa air base in eastern Greece near the Aegean Sea “on a temporary basis as they transition to a different location,” according to Auburn Davis, the chief of media operations for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, who noted that the remotely piloted aircraft, or RPA, are unarmed and engaged in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions known as ISR. “This is the first time that ISR capabilities have been temporarily deployed to Greece,” Davis told The Intercept. Due to “operational security considerations,” the Air Force declined to release details about the missions for which they’ll be used beyond referencing “foreign policy security objectives in the region, specifically to address threats emanating from the south.” The Reaper drones are ordinarily based in Africa, according to Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon. “The U.S. has previously deployed drones or drone operations support personnel to Italy and Tunisia to support operations over Libya. This deployment to Larissa, Greece, is also most probably in support of U.S. objectives in Libya, where the U.S. has for several years used drones to mitigate the threats posed by Islamic militant groups and to support local partners,” Dan Gettinger, co-founder and co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, told The Intercept. The U.S. has conducted at least nine airstrikes in Libya since President Donald Trump took office.

The U.S. has also built an extensive network of airfields and bases across the northern tier of Africa, flying drones out of Djibouti, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Niger in recent years. The U.S. is currently expanding an air base in Agadez, Niger for more extensive operations by MQ-9 Reapers. As The Intercept first reported in 2016, Niger was the “only country in NW Africa willing to allow basing of MQ-9s,” according to formerly secret U.S. military documents. The documents went on to note: “President expressed willingness to support armed RPAs.” The temporary nature of the deployment “could be related to the fact that the opening of the U.S. drone base at Agadez, Niger, has faced delays,” Gettinger told The Intercept.