Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The Defense Department's (DOD) efforts to acquire unmanned aerial vehicles have been disappointing so far. Since the Army's first major unmanned aerial vehicle acquisition effort began in 1979, three out of eight unmanned aerial vehicle programs have been terminated, three remain in development, and one is now moving to low-rate production. Only one of the eight--Pioneer--has been fielded as an operational system. GAO estimates that DOD has spent more than $2 billion to develop and procure these eight unmanned aerial vehicle programs during the past 18 years.

GAO noted that: (1) according to DOD, its objective in acquiring UAVs is to provide unmanned systems that will compliment its mix of manned and national reconnaissance assets; (2) however, its UAV acquisition efforts to date have been disappointing; (3) since Aquila began in 1979, of eight UAV programs, three have been terminated (Aquila, Hunter, and Medium Range), three remain in development (Outrider, Global Hawk, DarkStar), and one is now transitioning to low rate production (Predator); (4) only one of eight, Pioneer, has been fielded as an operational system; and (5) GAO estimates DOD has spent more than $2 billion for development and, or, procurement on these eight UAV programs over the past 18 years.