Building Partnership Capacity by Using MQ-9s in the Asia-Pacific
Abstract
In 2011 the US Air Force conducted a comprehensive review of its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. The secretary of the Air Force directed a study of where those capabilities are today, where they should be in 2030, and how they might balance against future requirements. The study provided key insights, recommendations, and tasks for shaping ISR priorities, planning, and programming to realize the Air Force's vision for 2030...This article urges that the Air Force either elevate or add the building of ISR partnerships as another top-priority task to the secretary of the Air Force's ISR review and approve this article's recommendations. The secretary's findings and endorsements in that review should address the role of building ISR partnerships in the Air Force of 2030. The article calls for adoption of a policy to develop bilateral ISR studies with partner nations in the Asia-Pacific region; those studies should address unique issues of conducting ISR operations to support common security concerns. It uses the MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) as an example to highlight key problems associated with deploying this weapon system to the Asia-Pacific and to demonstrate how the service should utilize bilateral studies to address them.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA625204
Entities
People
- Andrew A. Torelli
Organizations
- Air and Space Power Journal