US unveils Predator drones at Latvian airbase

September 09, 2015 00:45

The US Air Force on Tuesday showed off its advanced MQ-1 "Predator" drone at a Latvian airbase, marking the first time the cutting-edge aircraft has been deployed in Europe.

The showcase at the central Lielvarde airbase comes as tensions run high in the Baltic states -- Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia -- with neighbouring Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict.

"It's important to train for interoperability between NATO partners," Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis told AFP at the event.

"It's a good example of smart defence that we can use equipment that we don't currently have," he said, adding Riga is considering buying its own drones without specifying which.

Originally built for Russian bombers, the Lielvarde base has been extensively overhauled to make it the only one in Europe capable of hosting Predator drones on a permanent basis.

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