Iraqi Resistance Exploit's U.S. Drone Shortage

Report: Insurgents Benefit From Drone Shortage

By Tom Vanden Brook,
USA TODAY
Updated: 1d 10h Ago
(3/25/2008 2:55 AM)
Courtesy Of: USAToday

WASHINGTON — Insurgents have freely planted and detonated roadside bombs that cause most U.S. casualties in Iraq, exploiting the Pentagon's inability to meet the soaring demand for surveillance from unmanned aircraft, military records and interviews show.

"The demand is huge because commanders no longer want pictures taken last week; they want streaming video with enough clarity and fidelity to anticipate the actions of the enemy," said retired major general Robert Scales, a military historian. "Thus, we are not even within 5% of what's really needed."

There's a 300% annual increase in requests for full-motion video, said Dyke Weatherington, deputy director of unmanned warfare for the Pentagon. That demand, he says, outpaces the Pentagon's traditional acquisition process.

"From the outside perspective, it may seem like the department isn't moving fast enough to incorporate new technology," Weatherington said. But he said the military prides itself on delivering proven technology that can be used as quickly as possible.

The military's fleet of drones has increased from 167 unmanned planes to 5,331 in the past five years. "We're using every tool in our toolbox, in some cases developing new tools, to meet that requirement," Weatherington said.

Yet the supply remains inadequate.

A Pentagon presentation on drones last month showed that demand for video is more than four times the supply. The failure to meet the demand has led to more roadside bomb attacks, as insurgents have operated in the open without interference, military documents show.

An internal Marine report in January said insurgents, free from drone observation, have "prepared and executed … attacks with relative impunity."

That report echoed an urgent request in November 2006 from Marine commanders in Iraq for more video.

Improvised explosive devices remain the top killer of U.S. troops in Iraq. Sunday, a roadside bomb killed four soldiers in Baghdad. Their deaths increased the U.S. death toll to at least 4,000, according to an Associated Press tally.

The Marine Corps responded in part to the November 2006 request by expanding a contract it had with a private company that provided surveillance with drones, Lt. Col. Christopher Patton said in an e-mail.

That's not good enough, said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. Drones will become more important as U.S. troop levels decrease, forcing commanders to rely on unmanned systems to collect intelligence.

Congress, Bond said, needs to prod the Pentagon "to end bureaucratic delays of lifesaving equipment."

The failure to get more drones aloft resembles the delays in fielding Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, said retired Marine lieutenant general Wallace Gregson. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stepped in last year to make fielding MRAPs the Pentagon's top acquisition priority.

"Will we have to wait years for the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) surveillance and the bandwidth to exploit it?" Gregson said.

SCANEAGLE: Drones keep eye on enemy