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February 5, 2018Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

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U-2 Versus Global Hawk: Why Drones Aren’t Always The Best Solution For Warfighters (From Forbes)

February 5, 2018Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

The Air Force has been struggling of late to determine whether manned or unmanned aircraft are best-suited to generating useful high-altitude intelligence and recon.  The answer isn’t so obvious.  On the one hand, the service’s Global Hawk unmanned aircraft can stay aloft for 30 hours, collecting a diverse array of information with its on-board sensors.  On the other hand, its U-2S spy plane can fly higher and thus see further, carries a much bigger payload, generates a lot more power, and generally performs better than a drone in bad weather or contested air space.  Unmanned aircraft may one day transform aerial combat, but for the time being there are important advantages to having a pilot onboard, even if the plane can’t stay airborne as long as a Global Hawk.  After going back and forth for years, the Air Force finally decided it needed both U-2S and Global Hawk for the foreseeable future.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.

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