Pictured: An armed MQ-9 Reaper (Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson/US Air Force)
Targeted Killing: CIA's fleet of 80+ UAVs unlikely to be transferred to military -- Defense News
The Obama administration has floated the idea of putting the CIA’s controversial targeted killing operations under the control of the uniformed armed services. But sources familiar with the still-classified program, which uses unmanned aircraft to kill suspected terrorists in Pakistan and Yemen, say the shift would be difficult to implement and would make little difference.
All of the specially outfitted Reaper and Predator UAVs used in the CIA’s program actually belong to the Air Force.
In all, the CIA controls more than 80 remotely piloted vehicles, or about one-third of the Air Force’s fleet of Reapers and Predators, according to an official familiar with the program. That figure has not previously been disclosed. The Predators, known as MQ-1s,and the Reapers, known as MQ-9s, are manufactured by General Atomics.
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My Comment: I will be very surprised if the CIA "loses" it's CIA fleet. It is their boots on the ground in places like Pakistan, Somalia, etc. .... not the US military. Ordering a drone strike with the military responsible for the strike will only mean an extra layer to the bureaucracy. On a side note .... we now know that a third of the Air Force’s fleet of Reapers and Predators is controlled by the CIA.
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