DoD: Lack of UAVs allows insurgents free rein

[unhappycamper]

DoD: Lack of UAVs allows insurgents free rein
By Tom Vanden Brook - USA TODAY
Posted : Monday Mar 24, 2008 21:31:37 EDT

WASHINGTON — Insurgents are operating more freely in Iraq because the Pentagon has been unable to fulfill urgent requests by U.S. field commanders for unmanned drone aircraft, military records and interviews show.

“The demand is huge because commanders no longer want pictures taken last week; they want streaming video with enough clarity and fidelity to anticipate the actions of the enemy,” said retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, a military historian. “Thus, we are not even within 5 percent of what’s really needed.”

At the top of commanders’ lists is more video of enemy movements, says Dyke Weatherington, the Pentagon’s deputy director of unmanned warfare for the Pentagon. There’s a 300 percent annual increase in requests for full-motion video from the air, he says, a demand that outpaces the Pentagon’s traditional acquisition process.

“From the outside perspective, it may seem like the department isn’t moving fast enough to incorporate new technology,” Weatherington said. “But we pride ourselves, on what we deliver to the combat commander, he can use first day of the war.” The budget for drones has increased 1,200 percent since 2001, he said. “We’re using every tool in our toolbox, in some cases developing new tools, to meet that requirement.”

Yet the supply remains inadequate. A Pentagon presentation on drones last month showed that demand for video is more than four times the supply. The failure to meet the demand has led to more roadside bomb attacks, as insurgents have operated in the open without interference, military documents show.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/gns_uav_shortage_032408/



uhc comment: Well, shit boys. Don't buy one $355,000,000 F-22 or one $239,000,000 F-35 and ya got your $$$$$.