Robins Air Force Base Gets New Mission
Robins Air Force Base will now host the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).
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Robins Air Force Base, south of Macon, is getting a new mission.
The base will host the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). The Air Force says it’s a network of aircraft meant to give commanders better information in combat.
“To me it demonstrates the Air Force’s confidence in the capabilities of the workforce to advance mission sets,” said Dan Rhoades, director of Strategy for 21st Century Partnership, a booster organization for the base.
He also says it positions the base well for the future, in the event the government kicks of another Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
Robins already operates battlefield surveillance aircraft. The Air Force says the J-STARS fleet will be included in the new mission into the next decade.
Eventually, it will operate unmanned drones out of the Robins as part of the ABMS.
“It’s a demonstration of how the Air Force is looking to the future and understanding that the technologies that will be needed to fight future wars is going to be very important,” Rhoades said.
He attributed the decision to move the system to Robins to work done by the local community to ensure the base has room to grow and Georgia’s congressional delegation.
Georgia’s U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, and U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, whose district includes Robins, praised the Air Force’s decision this week.
The Air Force says the move to the new mission shouldn’t result in any job losses. The base estimated it had a workforce of 22,000 people in 2017.
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