Common Defense Quarterly Article on Drones

June 15, 2012

Common Defense Quarterly Article on Drones

The Summer 2012 issue of Common Defense Quarterly is running my article, "MQ-9 Reaper: Not the 'Revolution in Warfare' You've Been Told." To sum it up, I conclude "The proclamation of drones, such as Reaper, to be the future of warfare, a revolutionary transformation, is an empty, data free proclamation. The MQ-9 neither saves money nor improves performance compared to analogous, even primitive, aircraft. Such equipment only has a future in a defense system that prefers to degrade combat performance while increasing cost."

To see the article and its data and arguments, follow the link to find the complete magazine. The article starts on page 27.

If you want to review still more data, references, and of my analysis, find a five part series I wrote for Time's Battleland blog.

Tags: Aircraft and Drones

Winslow Wheeler, Director, Straus Military Reform Project, Center for Defense Information at the Project On Government Oversight

By: Winslow Wheeler
Director, Straus Military Reform Project, CDI at POGO, POGO

Mr. Wheeler's areas of expertise include Congress, the Defense Budget, National Security, Pentagon Reform and Weapons Systems

The goal of the Straus Military Reform Project is to secure far more effective military forces and much more ethical and professional military and civilian leadership at significantly lower budget levels.

We would like to thank Philip A. Straus Jr. and family for their generous support.