The US Department of Defense has been allocated almost $2.7 billion over the last five fiscal years to develop and procure unmanned air vehicle systems, says a new report issued by the US General Accounting Office (GAO). Highlighting what it describes as the lack of a comprehensive strategic plan, the GAO warns that the "DoD risks fielding a poorly integrated UAV force structure, which could increase costs and the risk of future interoperability problems".
Source: Flight International
The maker of uncrewed aircraft received an additional $9 million from the US Air Force Research Laboratory to continue development work of the experimental Off-Board Sensing Station jet, believed to be the basis for General Atomics’ bid for an autonomous aircraft capable of supporting crewed fighters.
A US think tank contends that drones will be critical to defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack and makes several recommendations for developing this capability.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Lockheed Martin are incorporating a Net-Enabled Weapons (NEW) capability into the MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned air vehicle (UAV).
