Turse writes: "In the sun-bleached badlands of the tiny impoverished nation
of Djibouti - where unemployment hovers at a staggering 60 percent and the
per capita gross domestic product is about $3,100 - sits a hive of
high-priced, high-tech American hardware."
Chabelley Airfield in Djibouti. (photo: Google Earth)
The Stealth Expansion of a Secret US Drone Base in Africa
By Nick Turse, The Intercept
22 October 15
VIEWED FROM HIGH ABOVE, Chabelley Airfield is little more than a gray smudge
in a tan wasteland. Drop lower and its incongruous features start coming
into focus. In the sun-bleached badlands of the tiny impoverished nation of
Djibouti - where unemployment hovers at a staggering 60 percent and the per
capita gross domestic product is about $3,100 - sits a hive of high-priced,
high-tech American hardware.
Satellite imagery tells part of the story. A few years ago, this isolated
spot resembled little more than an orphaned strip of tarmac sitting in the
middle of this desolate desert. Look closely today, however, and you'll
notice what seems to be a collection of tan clamshell hangars, satellite
dishes, and distinctive, thin, gunmetal gray forms - robot planes with wide
wingspans.
Unbeknownst to most Americans and without any apparent public announcement,
the U.S. has recently taken steps to transform this tiny, out-of-the-way
outpost into an "enduring" base, a key hub for its secret war, run by the
U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), in Africa and the
Middle East. The military is tight-lipped about Chabelley, failing to
mention its existence in its public list of overseas bases and refusing even
to acknowledge questions about it - let alone offer answers. Official
documents, satellite imagery, and expert opinion indicate, however, that
Chabelley is now essential to secret drone operations throughout the region.
Tim Brown, a senior fellow at GlobalSecurity.org and expert on analyzing
satellite imagery, notes that Chabelley Airfield allows U.S. drones to cover
Yemen, southwest Saudi Arabia, a large swath of Somalia, and parts of
Ethiopia and southern Egypt.
"This base is now very important because it's a major hub for most drone
operations in northwest Africa," he said. "It's vital. . We can't afford to
lose it."
Aerial image of Chabelley Airfield, Djibouti, March 2015. (photo: Google
Earth)
The startling transformation of this little-known garrison in this
little-known country is in line with U.S. military activity in Africa where,
largely under the radar, the number of missions, special operations
deployments, and outposts has grown rapidly and with little outside
scrutiny.
The expansion of Chabelley and its consequent rise in importance to the U.S.
military began in 2013, when the Pentagon moved its fleet of remotely
piloted aircraft from its lone acknowledged "major military facility" in
Africa - Camp Lemonnier, in Djibouti's capital, which shares the country's
name - to this lower-profile airstrip about 10 kilometers away.
A hasty perimeter of concertina wire and metal fence posts was constructed
around a bare-bones compound once used by the French Foreign Legion, and the
Pentagon asked Congress to fund only "minimal facilities" enabling
"temporary operations" there for no more than two years.
But Chabelley would follow a pattern established at Lemonnier. Located on
the edge of Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport, Lemonnier also began as
an austere location that has, year after year since 9/11, grown in almost
every conceivable fashion. The number of personnel stationed there, for
example, has jumped from 900 to 5,000 since 2002. More than $600 million has
already been allocated or awarded for projects such as aircraft parking
aprons, taxiways, and a sizeable special operations compound. It has
expanded from 88 acres to nearly 600 acres. Lemonnier is so crucial to U.S.
military operations that, in 2014, the Pentagon signed a $70 million per
year agreement to secure its lease through 2044.
But as the base grew, the skies over Lemonnier and the adjoining airport
became increasingly crowded and dangerous. By 2012, an average of 16 U.S.
drones and four fighter jets were taking off or landing there each day, in
addition to French and Japanese military aircraft and civilian planes, while
local air traffic controllers were committing "errors at astronomical
rates," according to a Washington Post investigation. The Djiboutians were
specifically hostile to Americans, ignoring pilots' communications and
forcing U.S. aircraft to circle above the airport until low on fuel - with
special ire reserved for drone operations - adding to the havoc in the
skies. While the U.S. did not find Djiboutian air traffic controllers
responsible, six remotely piloted aircraft based at Lemonnier were destroyed
in crashes, including an accident in a residential area of the capital,
prompting Djiboutian government officials to voice safety concerns.
As Lemonnier expanded, the Chabelley site underwent its own transformation.
Members of the Marines and Army conducted training there during 2008 and, in
2011, troops began work at the base with an eye toward the future. That
October, a Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team (MMT) undertook efforts to
enable a variety of aircraft to use the site. "We provide our commanders the
ability to keep the battle line moving forward at a rapid pace," said Sgt.
Christopher Bickel, the assistant team leader of the MMT that worked on the
project.
It was in February 2013 that the Pentagon asked Congress to quickly supply
funds for "minimal facilities necessary to enable temporary operations" at
Chabelley. "The construction is not being carried out at a military
installation where the United States is reasonably expected to have a
long-term presence," said official documents obtained by the Washington
Post. The next month, before the House Armed Services Committee, then-chief
of Africa Command (Africom), Gen. Carter Ham, explained that agreements were
being worked out with the Djiboutian government to use the airfield and
thanked Congress for helping to hasten things along. "We appreciate the
reauthorization of the temporary, limited authority to use operations and
maintenance funding for military construction in support of contingency
operations in our area of responsibility, which will permit us to complete
necessary construction at Chabelley," he said.
In June 2013, the House Armed Services Committee noted it was "aware that
the Government of Djibouti mandated that operations of remotely piloted
aircraft (RPA) cease from Camp Lemonnier, while allowing such operations to
relocate to Chabelley Airfield, Djibouti."
But there was another benefit of moving drone operations from the capital to
a far less visible locale. In an Air Force engineering publication from the
same year, U.S. Air Forces in Europe/Air Forces Africa engineers listed as
"significant accomplishments" the development and implementation of plans to
shift drones "from Camp Lemonnier to Chabelley Airfield . providing
operations anonymity from the International Airport and improving
host-nation relations."
Tim Brown of GlobalSecurity.org notes that Chabelley allows the U.S. to keep
its drone missions under much tighter wraps. "They're able to operate with
much less oversight - not completely in secret - but there's much less
chance of ongoing observation of how often drones are leaving and what
they're doing," he told me recently.
Dan Gettinger, the co-founder and co-director of the Center for the Study of
the Drone at Bard College and the author of a guide to identifying drone
bases from satellite imagery, agrees. "It seems they started with two CAPs -
combat air patrols - about seven aircraft, a mix of Predators and Reapers,"
he said. "And since then, we've really seen expansion, particularly within
the last couple months; a few more hangars and certainly a lot more
facilities for personnel at Chabelley."
By the fall of 2013, the U.S. drone fleet reportedly had been transferred to
the more remote airstrip. Africom failed to respond to questions about the
number and types of drones based at Chabelley Airfield, but reporting by The
Intercept, drawing on formerly secret documents, demonstrates that 10 MQ-1
Predators and four of their larger cousins, MQ-9 Reapers, were based at
Lemonnier prior to the move to the more remote site. Neither the Pentagon
nor Africom responded to repeated requests by The Intercept for comment on
other aspects of drone operations at Chabelley Airfield or the
transformation of the outpost into a more permanent facility. The reasons
why aren't hard to fathom.
"These are JSOC and CIA-led missions for the most part," Gettinger told me
recently, conjecturing that the hush-hush operations are likely focused on
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities and
counterterrorism strikes in Somalia and Yemen, as well as aiding the
Saudi-led air campaign in the latter country. Indeed, an Air Force accident
report obtained by The Intercept via the Freedom of Information Act details
a February 2015 incident in which an MQ-9 "crashed during an intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance mission in the United States Africa Command
Area of Responsibility." The Reaper, assigned to the 33rd Expeditionary
Special Operations Squadron operating from Chabelley had flown "about 300
miles away from base" when it began experiencing mechanical problems,
according to the pilot. It was eventually ditched in international waters.
Special Operations Command, JSOC's parent organization, would not comment on
Gettinger's assertions. "We do not have anything for you," responded
spokesperson Ken McGraw.
Despite the supposed temporary nature of the Chabelley site, Africom
"directed an expansion of operations" at the airfield and the U.S. inked a
"long-term implementing arrangement" with the Djiboutian government to
establish Chabelley as a "enduring" base, according to documents provided
earlier this year to the House Appropriations Committee by the
undersecretary of defense (comptroller). The Air Force also reportedly
installed a "tactical automated security system" - a complex suite of
integrated sensors, thermal imaging devices, radar, cameras and
communications devices - to provide extra layers of protection to the site.
In June, the Pentagon contacted the House Appropriations Committee about
reallocating $7.6 million to construct a new 7,720-meter perimeter fence
around the burgeoning base, complete with two defensive fighting positions
and four pedestrian and five vehicle entry points that also "provides a
platform for installing advanced perimeter sensor system equipment." Last
month, defense contractor ECC-MEZZ LLC of Burlingame, California, was
awarded a $6.96 million contract for a fence, gates, a perimeter roadway,
and a modular guard tower.
Africom remains close-lipped about the expansion and increasing importance
of Chabelley. Phone calls and emails seeking comment were ignored. Multiple
requests by The Intercept were even "deleted without being read" according
to automatic return receipts. After days of also sending requests to Major
James Brindle at the Pentagon's press office, it became apparent that The
Intercept isn't alone in getting the cold shoulder when it comes to
America's preeminent African drone base. A note from Brindle suggested
Africom didn't want to talk to him about Chabelley either. He had apparently
passed along my requests only to be similarly ignored. "Still waiting on a
reply from Africom. Sorry," was all he wrote.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Chabelley Airfield in Djibouti. (photo: Google Earth)
https://theintercept.com/2015/10/21/stealth-expansion-of-secret-us-drone-bas
e-in-africa/https://theintercept.com/2015/10/21/stealth-expansion-of-secret-
us-drone-base-in-africa/
The Stealth Expansion of a Secret US Drone Base in Africa
By Nick Turse, The Intercept
22 October 15
IEWED FROM HIGH ABOVE, Chabelley Airfield is little more than a gray smudge
in a tan wasteland. Drop lower and its incongruous features start coming
into focus. In the sun-bleached badlands of the tiny impoverished nation of
Djibouti - where unemployment hovers at a staggering 60 percent and the per
capita gross domestic product is about $3,100 - sits a hive of high-priced,
high-tech American hardware.
Satellite imagery tells part of the story. A few years ago, this isolated
spot resembled little more than an orphaned strip of tarmac sitting in the
middle of this desolate desert. Look closely today, however, and you'll
notice what seems to be a collection of tan clamshell hangars, satellite
dishes, and distinctive, thin, gunmetal gray forms - robot planes with wide
wingspans.
Unbeknownst to most Americans and without any apparent public announcement,
the U.S. has recently taken steps to transform this tiny, out-of-the-way
outpost into an "enduring" base, a key hub for its secret war, run by the
U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), in Africa and the
Middle East. The military is tight-lipped about Chabelley, failing to
mention its existence in its public list of overseas bases and refusing even
to acknowledge questions about it - let alone offer answers. Official
documents, satellite imagery, and expert opinion indicate, however, that
Chabelley is now essential to secret drone operations throughout the region.
Tim Brown, a senior fellow at GlobalSecurity.org and expert on analyzing
satellite imagery, notes that Chabelley Airfield allows U.S. drones to cover
Yemen, southwest Saudi Arabia, a large swath of Somalia, and parts of
Ethiopia and southern Egypt.
"This base is now very important because it's a major hub for most drone
operations in northwest Africa," he said. "It's vital. . We can't afford to
lose it."
Aerial image of Chabelley Airfield, Djibouti, March 2015. (photo: Google
Earth)
The startling transformation of this little-known garrison in this
little-known country is in line with U.S. military activity in Africa where,
largely under the radar, the number of missions, special operations
deployments, and outposts has grown rapidly and with little outside
scrutiny.
The expansion of Chabelley and its consequent rise in importance to the U.S.
military began in 2013, when the Pentagon moved its fleet of remotely
piloted aircraft from its lone acknowledged "major military facility" in
Africa - Camp Lemonnier, in Djibouti's capital, which shares the country's
name - to this lower-profile airstrip about 10 kilometers away.
A hasty perimeter of concertina wire and metal fence posts was constructed
around a bare-bones compound once used by the French Foreign Legion, and the
Pentagon asked Congress to fund only "minimal facilities" enabling
"temporary operations" there for no more than two years.
But Chabelley would follow a pattern established at Lemonnier. Located on
the edge of Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport, Lemonnier also began as
an austere location that has, year after year since 9/11, grown in almost
every conceivable fashion. The number of personnel stationed there, for
example, has jumped from 900 to 5,000 since 2002. More than $600 million has
already been allocated or awarded for projects such as aircraft parking
aprons, taxiways, and a sizeable special operations compound. It has
expanded from 88 acres to nearly 600 acres. Lemonnier is so crucial to U.S.
military operations that, in 2014, the Pentagon signed a $70 million per
year agreement to secure its lease through 2044.
But as the base grew, the skies over Lemonnier and the adjoining airport
became increasingly crowded and dangerous. By 2012, an average of 16 U.S.
drones and four fighter jets were taking off or landing there each day, in
addition to French and Japanese military aircraft and civilian planes, while
local air traffic controllers were committing "errors at astronomical
rates," according to a Washington Post investigation. The Djiboutians were
specifically hostile to Americans, ignoring pilots' communications and
forcing U.S. aircraft to circle above the airport until low on fuel - with
special ire reserved for drone operations - adding to the havoc in the
skies. While the U.S. did not find Djiboutian air traffic controllers
responsible, six remotely piloted aircraft based at Lemonnier were destroyed
in crashes, including an accident in a residential area of the capital,
prompting Djiboutian government officials to voice safety concerns.
As Lemonnier expanded, the Chabelley site underwent its own transformation.
Members of the Marines and Army conducted training there during 2008 and, in
2011, troops began work at the base with an eye toward the future. That
October, a Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team (MMT) undertook efforts to
enable a variety of aircraft to use the site. "We provide our commanders the
ability to keep the battle line moving forward at a rapid pace," said Sgt.
Christopher Bickel, the assistant team leader of the MMT that worked on the
project.
It was in February 2013 that the Pentagon asked Congress to quickly supply
funds for "minimal facilities necessary to enable temporary operations" at
Chabelley. "The construction is not being carried out at a military
installation where the United States is reasonably expected to have a
long-term presence," said official documents obtained by the Washington
Post. The next month, before the House Armed Services Committee, then-chief
of Africa Command (Africom), Gen. Carter Ham, explained that agreements were
being worked out with the Djiboutian government to use the airfield and
thanked Congress for helping to hasten things along. "We appreciate the
reauthorization of the temporary, limited authority to use operations and
maintenance funding for military construction in support of contingency
operations in our area of responsibility, which will permit us to complete
necessary construction at Chabelley," he said.
In June 2013, the House Armed Services Committee noted it was "aware that
the Government of Djibouti mandated that operations of remotely piloted
aircraft (RPA) cease from Camp Lemonnier, while allowing such operations to
relocate to Chabelley Airfield, Djibouti."
But there was another benefit of moving drone operations from the capital to
a far less visible locale. In an Air Force engineering publication from the
same year, U.S. Air Forces in Europe/Air Forces Africa engineers listed as
"significant accomplishments" the development and implementation of plans to
shift drones "from Camp Lemonnier to Chabelley Airfield . providing
operations anonymity from the International Airport and improving
host-nation relations."
Tim Brown of GlobalSecurity.org notes that Chabelley allows the U.S. to keep
its drone missions under much tighter wraps. "They're able to operate with
much less oversight - not completely in secret - but there's much less
chance of ongoing observation of how often drones are leaving and what
they're doing," he told me recently.
Dan Gettinger, the co-founder and co-director of the Center for the Study of
the Drone at Bard College and the author of a guide to identifying drone
bases from satellite imagery, agrees. "It seems they started with two CAPs -
combat air patrols - about seven aircraft, a mix of Predators and Reapers,"
he said. "And since then, we've really seen expansion, particularly within
the last couple months; a few more hangars and certainly a lot more
facilities for personnel at Chabelley."
By the fall of 2013, the U.S. drone fleet reportedly had been transferred to
the more remote airstrip. Africom failed to respond to questions about the
number and types of drones based at Chabelley Airfield, but reporting by The
Intercept, drawing on formerly secret documents, demonstrates that 10 MQ-1
Predators and four of their larger cousins, MQ-9 Reapers, were based at
Lemonnier prior to the move to the more remote site. Neither the Pentagon
nor Africom responded to repeated requests by The Intercept for comment on
other aspects of drone operations at Chabelley Airfield or the
transformation of the outpost into a more permanent facility. The reasons
why aren't hard to fathom.
"These are JSOC and CIA-led missions for the most part," Gettinger told me
recently, conjecturing that the hush-hush operations are likely focused on
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities and
counterterrorism strikes in Somalia and Yemen, as well as aiding the
Saudi-led air campaign in the latter country. Indeed, an Air Force accident
report obtained by The Intercept via the Freedom of Information Act details
a February 2015 incident in which an MQ-9 "crashed during an intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance mission in the United States Africa Command
Area of Responsibility." The Reaper, assigned to the 33rd Expeditionary
Special Operations Squadron operating from Chabelley had flown "about 300
miles away from base" when it began experiencing mechanical problems,
according to the pilot. It was eventually ditched in international waters.
Special Operations Command, JSOC's parent organization, would not comment on
Gettinger's assertions. "We do not have anything for you," responded
spokesperson Ken McGraw.
Despite the supposed temporary nature of the Chabelley site, Africom
"directed an expansion of operations" at the airfield and the U.S. inked a
"long-term implementing arrangement" with the Djiboutian government to
establish Chabelley as a "enduring" base, according to documents provided
earlier this year to the House Appropriations Committee by the
undersecretary of defense (comptroller). The Air Force also reportedly
installed a "tactical automated security system" - a complex suite of
integrated sensors, thermal imaging devices, radar, cameras and
communications devices - to provide extra layers of protection to the site.
In June, the Pentagon contacted the House Appropriations Committee about
reallocating $7.6 million to construct a new 7,720-meter perimeter fence
around the burgeoning base, complete with two defensive fighting positions
and four pedestrian and five vehicle entry points that also "provides a
platform for installing advanced perimeter sensor system equipment." Last
month, defense contractor ECC-MEZZ LLC of Burlingame, California, was
awarded a $6.96 million contract for a fence, gates, a perimeter roadway,
and a modular guard tower.
Africom remains close-lipped about the expansion and increasing importance
of Chabelley. Phone calls and emails seeking comment were ignored. Multiple
requests by The Intercept were even "deleted without being read" according
to automatic return receipts. After days of also sending requests to Major
James Brindle at the Pentagon's press office, it became apparent that The
Intercept isn't alone in getting the cold shoulder when it comes to
America's preeminent African drone base. A note from Brindle suggested
Africom didn't want to talk to him about Chabelley either. He had apparently
passed along my requests only to be similarly ignored. "Still waiting on a
reply from Africom. Sorry," was all he wrote.
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