According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Defense plans to increase flights by 50 percent. Those globally managed flights – primarily used by combatant commanders to gather intelligence – do not include the tactical UAS flights conducted by units serving in combat zones, Davis said.
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Davis said the additional flights would be flown wherever combatant commanders needed more of the kind of reconnaissance and strike capability provided by the drones.
In this new plan, the US Air Force which carries out the bulk of drone missions would also be aided from the Army, Special Operations Command and government contractors.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported earlier this month that nearly 6,000 people were killed by drone strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. As well as providing extra surveillance in regions such as Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, the South China Sea and North Africa, the new plan would expand the Pentagon’s capacity for lethal drone air strikes.
The increased number of flights, Davis said, will step up demand on the intelligence analysts who process the data collected by the aircraft and “turn it into actual intelligence”.
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The over all plan to increase flights is still in the process of being produced, Davis said, including that it will aim to shape future budget proposals to be presented to Congress.
