The Global Hawk drones NATO will acquire will be manufactured by U.S. firm Northrop Grumman. The German arm of EADS, Italy's Galileo Avionica — a unit of Finmeccanica — and the Canadian arm of General Dynamics are also involved. Koichi Kamoshida/Getty ImagesNATO To Buy U.S.-Made Drones For $1.3-Billion -- National Post/Reuters
NATO is to buy five U.S.-made unmanned drone aircraft capable of countering Afghan insurgents, hunting pirates off Somalia or monitoring arms embargoes, an alliance official said on Wednesday.
The drones are part of the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) project, scheduled to begin operating between 2015 and 2017. The project reflects NATO efforts to co-operate more closely with its member states on defence costs and capabilities at a time of financial constraints.
NATO has said last year’s Libya conflict exposed shortcomings in the alliance’s surveillance ability.
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Update #1: NATO to buy 5 US-made reconnaissance drones after Libya war exposed shortcomings -- Washington Post/AP
Update #2: NATO to spend 3-B euros on drones -- GMA News
My Comment: A few years late, but NATO is finally catching up with the program.
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