Flight Operations Have Grown To Over A Half-Million Hours
Annually
A senior defense official told a Congressional hearing Thursday
that perhaps no other weapon platform has more significantly
transformed the way the U.S. military wages war in recent years
than unmanned aerial aircraft.
Since 2006, operations have grown from about 165,000 hours to
more than 550,000 hours annually, said Dyke Weatherington, the
deputy for the unmanned aerial vehicle planning task force in the
office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology
and logistics. "I would articulate that it is difficult to find any
other technology in the Department of Defense that in a single
decade has made such a tremendous impact on the warfighting
capability of the department," Weatherington told the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The department's budget has reflected the growing emphasis on
unmanned vehicles, with the annual allotment for development and
procurement of such systems increasing from about $1.7 billion in
fiscal 2006 to more than $4.2 billion in fiscal 2010.
Raven UAV Launch
The rapid fielding of such systems has not been without flaws,
Weatherington acknowledged, citing ongoing challenges in making
systems interoperable among various users of the technology. Yet,
he said, the goal remains to maintain the ability to meet
warfighters' urgent needs, while encouraging individual service
branches to adopt the same technology.
"There are several examples of where, through Office of the
Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff encouragement, we have gotten
all the services to procure identical or virtually identical
systems," he told lawmakers.
With almost 1 million such flight hours clocked in Iraq and
Afghanistan, the Army is committed to growing the program to keep
pace with demand for the capability. This year alone, the Army
plans to train more than 2,000 operators who ultimately will deploy
with the ground troops they will support, Carlile reported.
Shadow UAV
Army unmanned aerial systems come in three primary forms. The
Raven, just under three feet long, supports battalions down to the
platoon level. The Shadow, 11 feet long with a 14-foot wingspan,
supports brigade-level operations. The more sophisticated "big
daddy" of Army systems, the Extended Range Multi-Purpose system,
has a 56-foot wingspan and supports division-level operations.
In addition to U.S. warfighters, these platforms have proven
useful for American allies such as Pakistan, which Defense
Secretary Robert M. Gates earlier this year said would receive RQ-7
Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles from the U.S. to support their
fight against extremists.
Extended Range Multi Purpose
UAV
The United States has been working with the Pakistani military
for more than a year to enhance its own intelligence and
surveillance capabilities, Gates said in remarks in January during
a visit to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
"We share a lot of information that we acquire on the Afghan
side of the border and from our satellites," Gates said, "but we
also are trying to help the Pakistanis build their own