Why USAF Wants to Cut ISR Operations in Fiscal 2022
June 23, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine
Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft are among the Air Force’s most-requested assets worldwide, but the service wants to cut back the number of combat air patrols it supports on any given day so it can free up funds in the fiscal 2022 budget to develop next-generation platforms.
Convincing lawmakers, however, will be a challenge.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) said in a June 22 hearing that plans to reduce capacity from 60 simultaneous MQ-9 missions to 56 runs counter to what U.S. Central Command and other combatant commanders want, citing CENTCOM’s placement of MQ-9s at the top of its unfunded priorities list in 2020.
Nevada hosts Creech Air Force Base, the Air Force’s main MQ-9 operating base.
https://www.airforcemag.com/why-usaf-wants-to-cut-isr-operations-in-fiscal-2022/
