UAV overload could hurt Predator program
(Credit: U.S. Air Force)It's arguably the biggest technology success for the Pentagon during the Iraq War era: the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. But could that very success could prove the undoing of the UAV corps?
The U.S. Army wants more of the aerial drones patrolling the skies, and it has the backing of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who has ordered the Air Force to dramatically boost the number of Predator aircraft on the front lines (at the moment, there are 22). The Air Force in turn is pushing back, arguing that the scramble could put a severe strain on Predator teams--even up to the point where they break down completely.
To read more about the UAV mission and the interservice bickering between the Army and the Air Force, see this story in the Los Angeles Times: "Pentagon battle breaks out over a spy plane.
Jonathan Skillings is managing editor of CNET News, based in the Boston bureau. He's been with CNET since 2000, after a decade in tech journalism at the IDG News Service, PC Week, and an AS/400 magazine. He's also been a soldier and a schoolteacher. E-mail Jon.





Also, this is just the worst statement he could have ever made: Comparing an extended tour of duty in Nevada to "a prisoner with a finite term versus a prisoner with a life sentence."
How does he think the soldier actually in the war feel? What about all the veterans from previous wars?
Maybe he thinks his pilot will get fat like the Southpark kids during the episode when all they did was play computer games 24x7.
Yes, even these pilots have made a big commitment to the country and I'm very thankful of it.
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by dstrebor
April 16, 2008 7:13 AM PDT
- The Air Force decided long ago that Predator would be flown by "Qualified Pilots". I think they're missing the boat. Planes are flown.....UAV DRONES ARE OPERATED. A UAV operator is not a pilot. Ask the Army....They have been operating UAVs longer than the Air Force! Army UAV Operators are enlisted guy trained to operated the UAVs. They are currently operating the Sky Warrior Alpha UAV (Predator based Platform) over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan right now! Maybe the Air Force should "shut up and color". They might learn something from there brothers in green. We are all on the same team! Lets start acting like it.
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