I am pleased to be here today to briefly discuss the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) acquisition efforts that the Department of Defense (DoD) has undertaken over the past 15 years. My comments are based on our reviews of a number of UAV programs. After a short summary, I would like to present you with a chronological discussion of the descriptions and outcomes of some of these programs, and then provide you with some key observations about DoD'S UAV acquisition efforts. According to DoD, its objective in acquiring UAV's is to provide unmanned systems that will complement its mix of manned and national reconnaissance assets. However, its UAV acquisition efforts to date have been disappointing. Since Aquila began in 1979, of eight UAV programs, three have been terminated, three remain in development, and one is now transitioning to low rate production. Only one of the eight, Pioneer, has been fielded as an operational system. We estimate DoD has spent more than $2 billion for development and/or procurement on eight UAV programs over the past 18 years.


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