Draco's back to CONUS after having been deployed for almost three years

On 2 November 2020, as expected, four U-28A Draco Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) aircraft arrived at Glasgow/Prestwick International Airport (UK) for their stop-over heading back to the Continental United States (CONUS). The aircraft had made a weekend stop at Ramstein Air Base (Germany).

Interestingly, three of the four Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) U-28As, made an almost three-year tour to the US Central Command area of operations.

At the beginning of December 2017, they were already sighted whilst transiting Lajes Air Base on the Azores, probably on their way to Kandahar Air Base (Afghanistan).

On 20 October 2020, three U-28As, accompanied by a HC-130J Combat King II (16-5873/LI) were seen transiting NAS Rota (Spain) on their way heading east.

The aircraft on their way back to CONUS via Prestwick were: 07-0840* (callsign RCH1016), 07-0838 (RCH1018), 05-0409* (RCH1020) and 08-0790* (RCH1022) with support of HC-130J 16-5873/LI. The aircraft marked with an asterix were seen at Lajes Air Base in December 2017.

 Photos: Robert Banks / credit plaque: https://www.woodmetalplaques.com/