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U.S. Air Force terminating Northrop unmanned plane
Source: Reuters
Exclusive: U.S. Air Force terminating Northrop unmanned plane
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON | Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:07pm EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force has decided to scrap its Northrop Grumman Corp high-altitude unmanned surveillance plane program and instead extend the life of its U-2 aircraft into the 2020s, according to a government official and a defense analyst.
Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said the Air Force decision was based on the cost of the Global Hawk unmanned planes, and that the service would investigate using a marine version with different sensors that Northrop is developing for the Navy.
The Northrop drone is one of dozens of weapons programs that face cancellation or cutbacks in the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget and five-year plan, which begins to implement $487 billion in spending cuts over the next decade.
A U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the Air Force's Block 30 variant of the unmanned plane was being terminated in the budget request that will be sent to Congress in February.
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By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON | Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:07pm EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force has decided to scrap its Northrop Grumman Corp high-altitude unmanned surveillance plane program and instead extend the life of its U-2 aircraft into the 2020s, according to a government official and a defense analyst.
Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said the Air Force decision was based on the cost of the Global Hawk unmanned planes, and that the service would investigate using a marine version with different sensors that Northrop is developing for the Navy.
The Northrop drone is one of dozens of weapons programs that face cancellation or cutbacks in the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget and five-year plan, which begins to implement $487 billion in spending cuts over the next decade.
A U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the Air Force's Block 30 variant of the unmanned plane was being terminated in the budget request that will be sent to Congress in February.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/24/us-northrop-globalhawk-idUSTRE80N2EM20120124
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