Posted on 07/15/2010 5:48:35 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
More questions than answers are arising from the U.S. Navy/Air Force memorandum of agreement to coordinate efforts on their respective high-altitude reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
Signed June 12 by the services’ chiefs of staffs, the agreement aims to produce operational and financial efficiencies in the Air Force Global Hawk and Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) programs, both of which are in development, though the USAF Global Hawk has a head start of many years on its younger cousin.
Shared basing, maintenance, command and control, training, logistics and data exploitation are areas that could be ripe for efficiencies, says Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
For example, the two systems will be collocated at NAS Sigonella, Italy, a move which has long been expected to provide access to the European theater and, possibly, the Middle East. A likely next move is collocation in Guam; Air Force officials are already preparing the base there for the arrival of their first Global Hawk.
Early models of Global Hawks and a Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration aircraft are operating out of Al Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates. The Navy aircraft is supporting intelligence collection in the Arabian Gulf and was recently approved to continue working there for another year, says Vice Adm. Jack Dorsett, deputy chief of naval operations for information dominance. Defense officials have said the aircraft is viewed as crucial to keeping watch on the Strait of Hormuz and in monitoring traffic to and from Iran. The Air Force vehicles support intelligence requirements for commanders in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa.
(Excerpt) Read more at aviationnow.com ...
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