Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) questioned Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, about the “duplication” he sees in the Defense Department’s unmanned aerial vehicle arena, keying particularly on the Army desire to buy more than a hundred UAVs that fly at 20,000-25,000 feet. Dorgan said at a March 21 Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing, “We have limited resources for nearly unlimited wants. … It seems to me that the Air Force ought to be the executive agent for medium-level and high-level UAV operations.” Moseley, in fact, recently has made just such a pitch to DOD. Moseley responded to Dorgan, saying that his “desire is to be able to meet requirements, whether they are Army requirements, Marine, Navy, special operations, or other government agency. … Right now, in theater, there are over 1,000 UAVs; a variety of systems, all good, all operated by well-meaning people. But the ability to capitalize on billions of dollars of future investment and to avoid the duplication has been my concern all along.”
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.