CommunityEditor
08-12-2008, 02:27 AM
When Defense Secretary Robert Gates stood up an ISR Task Force in April, he demanded a quick response to get more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to Iraq and Afghanistan, and now he’s getting it to the tune of $1.3 billion.
The four congressional defense panels have approved a Defense Department plan to pull $1.3 billion from the 2008 budget to purchase a variety of ISR systems and speed them into the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters, a senior defense official said Aug. 7.
“This funding ... has been requested to increase and enhance the ISR capabilities in CentCom,” said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. “It’s going to be used for the procurement of additional ISR sensors, and leases on contract aircraft as well as services.”
Gates approved a package of initiatives compiled by the task force, which include purchasing C-12 planes equipped with sensor suites like those found on Predators and sending more intelligence personnel to Afghanistan, a senior defense official close to the task force said.
A total of 21 C-12s will be purchased this year, with seven going to the Air Force, 11 to the Army and three to Special Operations Command. Pentagon officials hope to purchase another 30 C-12s the following year that all will go to the Air Force, the official said.
The task force recommended C-12s, rather than unmanned drones, be purchased because they could be bought and deployed much more quickly, he said.
To help free up pilots and sensor operators flying missions at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., more contractors will be sent to the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing to handle basic mission planning duties, the official said.
Task force officials also said they hope to use the funding to bolster the infrastructure set up to disseminate intelligence products produced from the ISR collected by aircraft over Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We need to get it moving faster and to more people as quickly as possible,” the official said.
The Pentagon has shifted previously appropriated funds from annual service budgets to cover emerging war costs numerous times during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. But this request marks the first time senior Defense Department leaders have drawn primarily from Army procurement accounts to pay large war-related bills.
Although Gates set a 120-day deadline for the ISR Task Force when he announced its stand up April 21, officials said the task force will stay intact past August and continue to find ways to get more ISR assets to U.S. Central Command “indefinitely.”
Defense officials are putting together a proposal for additional funding in 2009 to purchase the 30 C-12s, along with other assets and personnel. Whitman said the additional funding would be in the range of $1 billion.
Article: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/08/airforce_isr_taskforce_081108/
The four congressional defense panels have approved a Defense Department plan to pull $1.3 billion from the 2008 budget to purchase a variety of ISR systems and speed them into the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters, a senior defense official said Aug. 7.
“This funding ... has been requested to increase and enhance the ISR capabilities in CentCom,” said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. “It’s going to be used for the procurement of additional ISR sensors, and leases on contract aircraft as well as services.”
Gates approved a package of initiatives compiled by the task force, which include purchasing C-12 planes equipped with sensor suites like those found on Predators and sending more intelligence personnel to Afghanistan, a senior defense official close to the task force said.
A total of 21 C-12s will be purchased this year, with seven going to the Air Force, 11 to the Army and three to Special Operations Command. Pentagon officials hope to purchase another 30 C-12s the following year that all will go to the Air Force, the official said.
The task force recommended C-12s, rather than unmanned drones, be purchased because they could be bought and deployed much more quickly, he said.
To help free up pilots and sensor operators flying missions at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., more contractors will be sent to the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing to handle basic mission planning duties, the official said.
Task force officials also said they hope to use the funding to bolster the infrastructure set up to disseminate intelligence products produced from the ISR collected by aircraft over Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We need to get it moving faster and to more people as quickly as possible,” the official said.
The Pentagon has shifted previously appropriated funds from annual service budgets to cover emerging war costs numerous times during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. But this request marks the first time senior Defense Department leaders have drawn primarily from Army procurement accounts to pay large war-related bills.
Although Gates set a 120-day deadline for the ISR Task Force when he announced its stand up April 21, officials said the task force will stay intact past August and continue to find ways to get more ISR assets to U.S. Central Command “indefinitely.”
Defense officials are putting together a proposal for additional funding in 2009 to purchase the 30 C-12s, along with other assets and personnel. Whitman said the additional funding would be in the range of $1 billion.
Article: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/08/airforce_isr_taskforce_081108/