iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — For the Pentagon the ability to fly drones anywhere around the world at any given time has always been a case of supply and demand for the Air Force and there’s too much demand.
There are only so many Air Force MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones to go around as the number of hot spots increases around the world where military commanders want them to fly over. They’ve been flying all over the world, but there aren’t enough of them to go around and provide the near constant surveillance preferred by commanders.
The Pentagon has confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that it is working on a plan to expand the number of drone missions on any given day around the world.
The plan includes about 60 to 90 combat air patrols (CAPS) by using Predator drones that belong to the Army and Special Operations Command or would be contracted out. A reminder that they already fly around the world, but that sometimes aircraft have to be moved from another region which downgrades the capability there.
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters on Monday that the idea is to grow to 90 combat air patrols (CAPS) by 2019.
The Air Force would continue to fly the 60 it is flying today, but the Army would augment those numbers by flying an additional 10 and 20 aircraft, U.S. Special Operations 10 more and contractors might be hired to fly 10 more.
The Army has MQ-1 drones, attached to each Army division, that it calls “Gray Eagles” that are piloted by enlisted personnel, unlike the Air Force’s MQ-1’s which are flown exclusively by officers who are pilots.
Davis said that expanding the number of CAP’s will also require an expansion to the number of receiving stations and analysis areas for the increased number of video feeds that will result.
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