Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The Defense Department (DOD) is proceeding with the development of a variant of the Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle for use on Navy amphibious assault ships despite objections from Navy fleet commanders, who do not want the spy plane on their vessels because of the Hunter's questionable performance record and because of limited shipboard space. Because the Hunter cannot take off or land vertically, a ship's crew would have to clear the back half of the ship's deck to allow the Hunter to take off and land. Helicopters and jets would have to be moved below deck or to the front of the ship. For Hunter landings, the crew would also have to erect a protective barrier to shield parked aircraft from an out-of-control Hunter. In addition, Hunter's ranger of about 100 miles is considered inadequate in the vast Pacific. Also, when Hunter is viewing land targets, its limited range means that the ship must move closer to shore, increasing the risk from shore patrol attacks, mines, and other threats. GAO concludes that DOD is at risk of investing in a spy plane that may never be used.

GAO found that: (1) the Joint Tactical UAV Projects Office's plans to proceed with the acquisition of the Hunter shipboard variant even though Navy fleet commanders oppose its deployment on Navy ships; (2) the Navy's participation in the Hunter UAV program is expected to continue until system performance testing is completed; (3) Navy fleet commanders oppose the system's shipboard deployment because they do not believe it will meet their UAV performance and space requirements; and (4) fleet commanders are expected to complete their assessment of UAV shipboard requirements by May 1996.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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