Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Army, Homeland Security plan for unmanned aerial vehicles

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 15:09:13 -0500

Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Army, Homeland Security plan for unmanned aerial vehicles
BY Frank Tiboni
Feb. 24, 2004

The Army expects to spend much more than originally planned on unmanned
aerial vehicles, a top official said this week. And the Homeland
Security Department wants to spend $10 million to test UAVs next year.

The Army will spend more on UAVs now that the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter
program has been canceled, Lt. Gen. Richard Cody said during a Feb. 23
media briefing at the Pentagon. The service's investment in unmanned
aerial vehicles will be much more than previously planned, said Cody,
the Army's deputy chief of staff of operations and top military planner.
From the money that had been originally slated for Comanche, about $300
million will go to the Army's unmanned vehicle program, Cody said.
UAVs, which are flown by operators using systems located in ground
trailers, look like big, model airplanes that carry cameras and sensors
to monitor people and vehicle movements. The aircraft were used in Iraq
and Afghanistan because they can fly over enemy territory without
putting humans in danger.

Through 2009, the Army will spend $1.2 billion on unmanned aerial
vehicles, according to the "United States Army 2003 Transformation
Roadmap." The $300 million shifted from Comanche will increase the UAV
spending to $1.5 billion by 2009 and $2.3 billion by 2011, said Army
spokesman Maj. Gary Tallman in a Feb. 24 e-mail statement.
The service's spending plan indicates that the Army will spend $163.6
million on UAVs in 2005, $171.9 million in 2006, $193.9 million in 2007,
$247.2 million in 2008 and $284 million in 2009.

Meanwhile, DHS officials asked for $10 million to test UAVs in their
fiscal 2005 budget request. Asa Hutchinson, the department's under
secretary for border and transportation security, requested the
appropriation Feb. 12 when he testified before the Senate subcommittee
on immigration, border security and citizenship.

DHS officials purchased three UAVs last month but did not publicly
announce the purchase, according to a military official familiar with
the procurement. This would mark the first UAV buy outside of the
Defense Department, but a DHS spokesmen could not confirm the deal.

DHS Secretary Tom Ridge visited Dec. 4 the Army's UAV Training Center,
located at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. He watched the service fly the Shadow
200 UAV for two hours, said Mark Farrar, director of the UAV Training
Center, during a Jan. 29 telephone interview.

Anteon International Corp., located in Fairfax, Va., helps the Army
train personnel to use the Shadow 200 UAV. The service's UAV Test Center
hopes to train DHS Customs and Border Protection agency agents how to
use drones to monitor U.S. borders, Farrar said.

The Army flies two UAVs: the catapult-launched Shadow 200, manufactured
by AAI Corp., located in Hunt Valley, Md., and the runway-launched
Hunter, built by Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd, located at Ben-Gurion
International Airport, Israel, and Northrop Grumman Corp., located in
Los Angeles. Cody said the service plans to buy the Raven, a small,
handheld-launched UAV produced by AeroVironment Inc., located in
Monrovia, Calif.

Army officials plan to arm UAVs, Cody said. The military primarily uses
drones for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. But the CIA
used a UAV equipped with missiles to kill al Qaeda terrorists in Yemen
in 2002.
Dibya Sarkar contributed to the report.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0223/web-uav-02-24-04.asp
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