Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (Isr) : The U-2 Aircraft and Global Hawk Uav Programs

By Best, Richard A., Jr.

Excerpt
Excerpt: The ability to gather accurate and timely information on enemy forces is an essential enabler of modern military operations. Joint Vision 2010, the Pentagon’s “conceptual template...to achieve new levels of effectiveness in joint warfighting” specifically highlights the importance of achieving information dominance: “We must have information superiority: the capability to collect, process and disseminate an uninterrupted flow of information while exploiting or denying an adversary’s ability to do the same.” The growing use of precision guided munitions (PGMs) which can destroy specific targets without extensive collateral damage depends upon the availability of precise information. As the Department of Defense (DO) transforms itself into the force envisioned in Joint Vision 2010 and organizes its components consistent with “network centric” warfighting concepts, the importance of accurate and timely information will grow.

Table of Contents
Contents Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 U-2 Dragon Lady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 U-2s in Post-Cold War Combat Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 RQ-4A Global Hawk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Summary: Platform Comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Congressional Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 DoD Budget FY 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Intelligence Budget FY 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Issues and Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Appendix 1: Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 List of Figures Figure 1. U-2 Dragon Lady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Figure 2. RQ-4A Global Hawk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 List of Tables Table 1. USAF Reconnaissance & Surveillance Aircraft Active Inventory (May 2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Table 2. Comparison of Key Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Table 3: Summary of U-2 & Global Hawk Funding FY2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13