Highlights
-The Pentagon is planning to spend $2.2 billion on a new fleet of unmanned drones and spy planes
-Increased focus on ISR equipment is part of the larger shift of focusing on counterinsurgency and irregular warfare
-The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) is instrumental in modern US counterinsurgency warfare
According to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD) plans to spend $2.2 billion on a new fleet of spy planes and unmanned drones to be used in Iraq and Afghanistan. The deployment of additional spy planes and drones in support of American forces would enhance efforts to track militants.
According to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman, Congress has already approved the reprogramming of $1.2 billion in defense funds to rapidly enhance intelligence collection in war zones, but Secretary Gates is signing off on a follow-on package.
The expansion of what Pentagon officials call “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance,” or ISR, is part of plans to restructure the country’s military to better deal with counterinsurgency campaigns, such as what US forces face in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Plan and Equipment
The current Pentagon plan includes 51 C-12 twin-turboprop Huron aircraft that are equipped with sensors and video cameras, ultimately allowing US commanders to better observe the movements of militant groups and take action against them. The Pentagon will field 21 of the aircraft in fiscal 2008, and plans for an additional 30 by 2009. There is also an expected increase in funding for unmanned surveillance Predator drones, which are operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and have been involved in missile attacks against al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan.
To afford the new plan, the Pentagon has had to shift previously appropriated funds from annual service budgets to cover emerging war costs, something that has been done on previous occasions since the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan began. However, this instance marks the first time senior DoD leaders have drawn primarily from Army procurement accounts to pay such related bills.
The announcement of the $2.2 billion plan comes after Secretary Gates created a special task force in April 2008 to draft methods to meet the increasing demand from commanders for drones and aircraft capable of providing real time, full motion video coverage on the battlefield.
Currently, combat air patrols by MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft number approximately 27 per day, with the goal of 33 per day by the end of 2008.
The goal of deploying additional C-12 aircraft is to enhance the consistent monitoring of large swatches of battlefield territory. The C-12’s would be vital for commanders in places like eastern Afghanistan or the border regions with Pakistan, where militants crossing between the two countries pose a growing threat.
Future Focus on ISR
On July 31, 2008 the Pentagon released the US National Defense Strategy (NDS), which outlines that the country must be prepared to fight low-intensity conflicts against extremist and terrorist groups (Previous Report).
The planned intelligence and surveillance expansion comes as the Bush administration considers withdrawing additional US troops from Iraq to supplement forces in Afghanistan. The US Air Force is likely to turn to armed drones and UAV’s to help keep the peace in Iraq as the conflict shrinks in scale and US ground troops begin departing the battlefield.
As highlighted in the Pentagon’s new NDS, the US will continue focusing on counterinsurgency and irregular warfare. Commanders involved in counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have requested an increase and enhancement of ISR capabilities, as demand for drones and aircraft capable of providing real time, full motion video coverage is high. Ultimately, this will result in the increased use and deployment of armed drones and other UAV’s, as well as being instrumental in modernizing the US counterinsurgency strategy.
