ISR Miracles, at a Reasonable Price

Posted on: Feb. 1st, 2006 || Source: afa.org | E-mail Article | Print Article

For USAF's intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance systems, the coming decades will be a time of evolution - not revolution.

iscal austerity and the need to pace ISR fleet operations will impose new restrictions and drive USAF to pursue incremental advances in ISR capabilities. Plans call for most types of ISR aircraft—the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, E-8 Joint STARS, RC-135 Rivet Joint, and the like—to get selected upgrades and keep on operating until 2025, perhaps beyond.

In the next few years, the Air Force will enhance its ISR capabilities by bringing on increasing numbers of Global Hawk and Predator unmanned aerial systems. These aircraft will offer USAF something it has never had: persistent and uninterrupted overwatch of specific areas of interest.

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