Army and Air Force Unmanned Air Reconnaissance: Warrior and Hydra Navigating a Maze of Strategic Hedges
Abstract
During the post-9/11 Iraq and Afghanistan counterinsurgencies, the Air Force and Army acquired similar unmanned air systems (UAS) to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), though with different degrees of success. The Air Force selected the MQ-1B/-9 Predator/Reaper family of vehicles, while the Army chose the MQ-1C, unofficially named "Sky Warrior." Although the air vehicles had comparable performance, the services selected different command and control (C2) and sustainment mechanisms that defined the relative effectiveness of the systems. As the counterinsurgencies intensified, the ISR platforms from both services were inadequate to meet increasing requirements. As the services surged, they quarreled over ISR request and airspace-control processes as well as the efficiency of their respective systems. Although the services moved to harmonize their processes, the Air Force drew criticism from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for not providing enough UASs, which contributed to the relief of the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force in 2008. In conjunction, observers charged that the Army UAS was an unnecessary duplication that infringed upon Air Force roles and missions. In a resource-constrained environment, the public debate continues on the wisdom of buying two UASs with roughly equivalent capabilities and similar missions. This study analyzes the relative effectiveness of the services' UASs in meeting national security objectives in the context of the Global War on Terror and future wars. Given the similarity in the air vehicles, the UAS' C2 and sustainment mechanisms served as the basis of comparing the service solutions. The hedging constructs in the National Security and Defense Strategies provided the criteria for this comparison. This analysis revealed that both services' UASs could serve as effective heWhy did the services develop their UASs in this manner? Civilian interventiovi leadership resiste
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA540550
Entities
People
- Stanley A. Springer
Organizations
- Air University