USAF Power Grab

What's going on here is simple

USAF Says It Would Save 10% As UAS Executive Agent(Subscription Required)

Aviation Week & Space Technology
08/13/2007, page 27

Edited by David Bond


Printed headline: UAS Promises

The U.S. Air Force says it can save as much as 10% of the budding unmanned aerial system budget if it becomes the Pentagon’s executive agent for UASs over the objections of its sister services. Savings would come from common training and sustainment processes as well as shared basing. The service also boasts it can save $400-600 million by consolidating its Predator program with the Army’s Warrior, an upgraded Predator. The Army has been furious over this plan, and the Navy and Marine Corps have expressed reservations. ....

What's going on here is simple. The Air Force is trying a power grab.

If the future of air combat is drones, and it looks increasingly so, you will have unmanned aircraft that will take off and land on their own (the Air Force is behind the other services on this, probably because once you get that automated, you really don't need a pilot).

The Air Force sees a future where UAVs are by the same sort of soldiers that perform as artillery spotters, i.e. reasonably well trained enlisted men, and they see irrelevance in their future.

This is their attempt to stay on top of these programs, and to keep officers operating UAVs, whether they really need to or not.