GAO Blames Glint of U-2 Retirement

GAO Blames Glint of U-2 Retirement: Government Accountability Office senior analyst Michael Sullivan says that the two highly successful UAV programs—Predator and Global Hawk—took divergent acquisition paths and for Global Hawk “requirements creep” set in early. Sullivan was responding to Rep. Solomon Ortiz (R-Tex.), who asked at a Thursday House Armed Services subcommittee hearing, why the program is going through its fourth restructuring and “who pushed to make these changes?” (GAO targeted rising costs in a recent report; Northrop Grumman responded.) Sullivan says that the Pentagon knew that Global Hawk would “eventually replace the U-2,” setting the stage for the addition of advanced radars and sensors, all tacked on with little testing. He reckons that the vision of U-2 retirement gave “momentum” to pushing the technology envelope.