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Wynne pushes for UAV control

OMAHA, Neb. — Years of experience combined with an “engrained culture of unmanned aerial systems employment” qualify the Air Force to serve as the Pentagon’s executive agent for mid- and high-altitude UAVs, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne.

Speaking Wednesday at the first annual 55th Wing ISR Symposium in Omaha, Wynne said such a move makes obvious sense, since the Air Force has “codified UAS deployment procedures across the current and future spectrum.” In addition, Wynne said he’d like to see unmanned systems tied operationally to the Air Operations Center (AOC) — an Air Force command element.

“The Air Force has stepped forward,” Wynne told a gathering of intelligence officers and defense contractor representatives. “It’s no longer about tactical or strategic, for only the ultimate target determines this. It’s much more about connectivity and the ability to harness information. Connectivity with space and air-breathing systems, language protocols, airspace control, identification of friend or foe, air defense – all fit into the air commander’s bucket.”

Wynne’s comments were hardly off the cuff — they support a wider Air Force campaign to take charge of all U.S. medium- and high-altitude UAVs. His direct subordinate, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley, revealed this new strategy March 5 in a three page letter that set Army officials on edge.

To the Army, the Air Force move is a thinly camouflaged effort to pull the Warrior UAV — a variant of the Predator B in Air Force service — away from direct Army control. Still in development, Warrior has come under scrutiny of federal lawmakers who regard it as a duplication of effort in light of the Predator program. A recent report from the watchdog Government Accountability Office added weight to this view.

Moseley’s push for a wider Air Force role began two years ago when, as the Air Force’s vice chief, he pushed then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon’s Joint Requirements Advisory Council (JROC) for Air Force control of all UAVs operating above an altitude of 3,500 feet.

JROC ruled against Moseley, and instead created the Joint UAV Center of Excellence at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, with logistics placed under the Joint UAS Materiel Review Board. Army officials believed these actions ended the debate, but the Air Force has since announced its intention to present the Pentagon with a “road map” that would place all mid- and high-altitude UAVs under its control.

During a pair of meetings in early May, JROC officials directed the Air Force to fine-tune its UAV executive agency plan. This could be submitted within a matter of weeks. If the issue is not quickly resolved, House lawmakers have threatened to exercise a provision to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill that would force the Pentagon to choose an executive agent for UAVs within nine months.

“We need to ensure common links across all unmanned platforms,” Wynne said in Omaha. “We have some technical obstacles but the relationship between the Air Force and industry is respected and feared around the world. ISR capabilities are at the core of determining desired effects.”

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