They just can’t build ’em fast enough. Predator unmanned aerial systems have turned into true workhorses—amassing some 4,000 hours a month in the Global War on Terror. In July, the total was 4,700 hours. Officials at Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, say they just accepted the 125th Predator. In 2006, ASC will move into the third production contract for the popular MQ-1 UAS with its persistent, armed capability. Next up is the larger next-generation version—the MQ-9—which ASC says will fly twice as high, twice as fast, and carry four times as many weapons. These will include the GBU-12, EGBU-12, and 500-pound GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition. Don’t expect to see it in the field, though, before 2008.
The recent Ukrainian drone strike on Russian bomber bases is raising alarm among U.S. officials, who worry that American military installations worldwide are increasingly vulnerable to attack. The daring June 1 mission, nicknamed “Operation Spiderweb,” has prompted Defense Secretary Pete...