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Future Of Military Aviation Lies With Drones – US Admiral

WASHINGTON –Unmanned aircraft likely represent the future for U.S. military aviation, with next-generation bombers

and fighter planes operating without pilots onboard, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday.

“We’re at a real time of transition here in terms of the future of aviation, and the whole issue of what’s going to

be manned and what’s going to be unmanned,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a

Senate hearing.

“I think we’re at the beginning of this change,” Mullen said when asked about plans for developing a new bomber

aircraft.

The use of drones has dramatically expanded just in the past few years, he said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the same hearing that military planners need to answer the question whether a

new bomber would have a pilot in the cockpit or operate as unmanned aircraft.

Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mullen said Lockheed Martin Corp.’s (LMT) Joint Strike

Fighter, now being built, could be the last manned fighter jet before robotic planes take over that role.

“I mean, there are those that see JSF as the last manned fighter,” Mullen said of the F-35. “I’m one that’s inclined

to believe that.”

The U.S. military and intelligence agencies now use thousands of drones, ranging from small, one-meter-long aircraft

that can be thrown into the air by hand to the larger Global Hawk, with a wingspan of 35 meters, in Iraq,

Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Although Gates has pushed for cuts in expensive weapons systems – including plans for expanding the fleet of F-22

fighter jets – his proposed budget for fiscal 2010 calls for increasing funding for unmanned drones, including

Predators and the newer Reapers.

“This is one of the significant growth areas in the budget,” Gates said.

The defense secretary’s budget calls for spending $2 billion on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance

support for forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, with much of the money going to drones.

“We will ramp to build 48 Reapers a year during this budget,” Gates said.

“We are really placing a major bet in this area.”

Original report from AFP