USAF doesn’t stand alone—entirely—in its recent push to become lead agent for higher flying unmanned aerial vehicles. We reported that Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) had expressed support for the plan. Now, a senior Air Force official says that a number of lawmakers have asked “why we are going down the path of duplicative systems.” Among the loudest, in addition to Dorgan: Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). Dorgan and Allard are on the Appropriations Committee; Conrad is on the Budget Committee. Conrad and Dorgan see a future for Air Force Predator UAVs at bases in their state. Recent comments by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) should also put him on the Air Force side on this issue.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
