The Drone That The U.S. Congress Refuses To Kill

Global Hawk Drone Flies Into Budget Battle Between Pentagon, Congress -- L.A. Times

The Air Force planned to stop buying and flying the Global Hawk drone to save about $2.5 billion over five years. Lawmakers backed by the defense lobby have scuttled that and other cost-cutting efforts.

When the Air Force looked for ways to save money last year to deal with declining budgets, officials decided to halt work on a high-flying, long-endurance spy drone built in Palmdale by defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp.

At a cost of $35,000 per flying hour, the Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft had "priced itself out of the niche, in terms of taking pictures in the air," Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said at the time.

The Air Force planned to stop buying the Global Hawk and mothball 18 of those it already owned to save about $2.5 billion over five years. The high-tech drones, the military said, were not as capable as the battle-tested U-2 spy planes.

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My Comment: Just another example on the power of lobby groups and special interests in Washington.