Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works Is Cooking Up A Revolution In Drone Technology
In the years since the 9-11 attacks, unmanned aircraft — “drones” — have become the signature combat system of America’s global war against terrorists. According to the Air Force, its fleet of Predator and Reaper unmanned aircraft flew an average of 1000 hoursper day last year over places like Iraq and Afghanistan, generating full-motion video and other reconnaissance that has become crucial to coalition military operations. The joint force routinely uses Reaper, a hunter-killer drone, to take out terrorists and insurgents where they hide because of its ability to loiter for many hours above suspected sanctuaries until enemies show themselves.
Such exploits have spawned widespread speculation that one day unmanned systems will dominate warfighting, taking the place of traditional combat systems not just in the air but on the ground and beneath the sea. For instance, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus recently told an audience that “unmanned systems, particularly autonomous ones, have to be the new normal in ever-increasing areas.” Mabus believes the F-35C fighter his service is developing will be the last manned fighter to fly off carrier decks.
Maybe so, but before the drones take over, there will have to be some big improvements in unmanned-vehicle technology. Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post reported earlier this year that most of the 269 Predator drones the Air Force bought over the last 20 years have crashed, which is a pretty dreadful performance considering the fact that the enemies against which they are used lack air forces or air defenses. And in the process of crashing, Whitlock notes, the drones frequently “are spilling secrets about U.S. military operations.” When a Predator crashes nearby, it’s an unambiguous signal to jihadists they are being watched — one which usually leads them to change tactics.
There are plenty of other problems with current military drones. They can’t operate when the weather is bad. They use up vast amounts of scarce bandwidth communicating with their remote pilots and transmitting reconnaissance. Ground crews require specialized training and equipment. And, surprisingly, they sometimes have higher personnel costs than manned alternatives. James Drew reported at InsideDefense.comon March 12 that the Air Force’s Global Hawk surveillance drone has a higher “unit personnel cost” than the manned U-2S spy plane, due to maintenance and other requirements.
