The US Department of Defense (DoD) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) Roadmap, which will guide future US military UAV procurement, is in "the final stages of service co-ordination", according to Diane Wright, the official developing the document.
Produced following former US defence secretary William Cohen's demand for "demonstrable progress in the UAV area in the next 24 months", the document had been due last September. US Congress wants one-third of combat air and ground vehicles to be unmanned by 2010 and 2015, respectively.
The US military has recently taken the lead in UAV procurement. As a result, Wright believes some opportunities for interoperability have been missed. In addition, she says: "Our extended vision for UAV technologies may have suffered due to intra-service budget constraints and conflicting service priorities and programmes."
Wright adds that the DoD's new leadership faces several issues, including normal flight of military UAVs in civil airspace. Export control and missile technology control regimes as they apply to UAVs also need to be reviewed, says Wright.
The future of the US Air Force Northrop Grumman Global Hawk UAV will be determined on 16 February with the much-delayed US Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting, which will decide whether the RQ-4A will transition from an advanced concept technology demonstration to an acquisition programme.Source: Flight International
