The number of UAVs—ah, that’s now UASes—in use in Southwest Asia just keeps growing. We reported some 750 in July; now Dyke Weatherington, DOD’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Planning Task Force deputy director, says there are “well over” 1,000 small, unmanned systems in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was briefing reporters Wednesday about the Pentagon’s new Unmanned Aerial Systems Roadmap.
The Air Force budget would grow to $234 billion while Space Force spending would shrink to $26 billion under the White House's yearly ask.