US DEPARTMENT of Defense acquisition chief Paul Kaminski is on the brink of signing an acquisition decision memorandum halting production of the TRW/Israel Aircraft Industries Hunter short-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Only seven systems are in service.
TRW/IAI was originally awarded a $169 million low-rate initial production contract for seven systems, but there were plans to procure 50 systems worth $4 billion for the US Army, US Navy and US Marine Corps.
Five years, almost $700 million and 20 Hunter crashes later (including three mishaps in one month in 1995), the UAV programme is now on the brink of being cancelled.
USN Rear Adm Bart Strong, head of the UAV Joint Project Office, says that the major problem for Hunter has been its accident rate. "A lot can be done to minimise mishaps...we need to instill basic aviation flight discipline into UAV programmes," he says. "We have not seen it in the past, and it has burned us."
Although no final decision has been made, Strong expects to see only "one or two" systems remain operational.
Source: Flight International
