Pentagon battle breaks out over a spy plane

Defense Secretary Gates wants more unmanned Predator aircraft in Iraq. But the Air Force worries about the long-term viability of the spy plane program.

By Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 21, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has ordered the Air Force to put nearly all of its unmanned Predator aircraft into the skies over the Middle East, forcing the service to take steps that officers worry could hobble already-stressed drone squadrons.

Pressure from the Defense secretary in recent months has nearly doubled the number of Predators available to help hunt insurgents and find roadside bombs in Iraq. But it has forced air commanders into a scramble for crews that officers said could hurt morale and harm the long-term viability of the Predator program.

Some officers said pressure from Gates resulted in one plan that could have taken the Air Force down a path similar to the German Luftwaffe, which cut back training in World War II to get more pilots in the air.

"That was the end of their air force," said Col. Chris Chambliss, commander of the Air Force's Predator wing. The Air Force plan, presented to the military leadership in January, eventually was scaled back.

The surge in drone flights is Gates' latest push for short-term measures to win the Iraq war that will have long-term implications for the U.S. military. In recent months, Gates has campaigned to increase the size of the Army and to ship new, heavily armored troop transporters, known as MRAPs, to Iraq.

Because of the far-reaching implications of the Predator debate, a fight has broken out between the Army and the Air Force over control of one of the most heralded technological successes of the war.

The Army has argued that more overhead drones will save troops' lives, a position largely adopted by Gates. But the Air Force has complained that simply demanding more, with no end in sight, would severely strain the service -- just as repeated deployments of ground soldiers has strained the Army.

"The leadership has to be careful," said one senior Air Force official who, like several others, spoke on condition of anonymity when describing internal debates. "If you keep on pushing them and pushing them and pushing them, and they say, 'Yes, yes, yes, yes,' at some point, they're going to break. Because they ain't going to say no until they break. No one wants to say 'uncle.' "

cont. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,7062149.story
--------------------------------------------



Very interesting article.



A couple of quick comments for now..

1) Yay SecDef Gates on the right track after the clusterf that was Rumsfeld (Rumy thought spending gaggillions on super expensive big ticket items was a better idea).

2) Altho the concern about not enough pilots being trained are valid, the AirForceweenies.. have truly earned that name this time:

Dudes, your duty station is NEVADA!! Now suck it up.
Cripes... eat-all-you-can buffets at the Vegas strip after work, and they complain.

__________________
.




"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

maybe they should try to recruit some of the flight sim geeks.. im sure they would kill for a chance to shoot real hellfires and it wouldt take too long for them to learn to fly the drones.

Predator amd Global Hawk crews are deployed in country. Maintainers, COMM/SAT and folks who do the TO/L's. These are not remote.

Thats an excellent idea.

But also highlights a problem.. unlike the USArmy, USAF insist that UAV pilots have to be officers. HQ is stuck in the 20th century, and not adapting to the current war quick enough.

__________________
.




"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

A Predator has attack capabilities. An Officer/Pilot makes the decision to authorize use of these capabilites. Two enlisted monitor and control the sensors.



That's how the USAF does things.

Professional.

i dont see why one officer cant be in control of those decisions while being in charge of a flight crew just like a tank commander is in charge of his tank crew. most of the time the time, that im aware of, the predator pilot is just loitering in the air waiting for orders, on recon, or flying to a target. in either case, the decision of the officer to fire upon a target isnt needed. and as for the global hawk, i thought it wasnt armed.. so what decision is there to make that the pilot cant(not to mention that the global hawk can be put in autonomous mode)?

im not saying that we should take the officer out of the equation but we can divide the tasks to make it easier on each person. it would be much easier and much faster if one person it trained to respond to enemy targets and another is trained to fly the uav and have them work together in ratios of 1:1 through 1:3 of officer: pilot.

Well then, how would you suggest the USAF deal with the shortage of pilots?

Because if they can't, then the USArmy might as well take over tactical UAV operations.

__________________
.




"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

Recruit more Predator drivers at UPT.

It's not glamorous, but if there's a need, that's what they'll have to do.

The Army has Warrant Officers flying most of their helos, they may use them to drive the UAV's I suppose, but the Army is short on WO's also.

It's a war, it's a voluntary miltary...

Shortages in personnel are going to occur.

Unlike a video game, flying a UAV requries aviation skills. It's the equivalent of looking through a soda straw while driving a car. The USAF requires all of it's pilots, in all of it's birds.... to be Officers. Maybe they'll change, this policy I don't know.

It just bugs me that some folks think just anyone can fly a UAV.

its ironic how theres a shortage of pilots in a day that they can control a uav and not even be in harms way while during ww2 there were young men eager to fly practically suicide missions in bombers over germany knowing that the chance of them returning from the mission is slim to none.

im not saying that the air force isnt doing enough but weve had it worse and not many complained.