Outrider
The most significant programmatic action of FY 1996 was the restructuring of the Joint Tactical UAV Program to the Tactical UAV Program. The award of the Outrider ACTD program contract in May 1996 clearly demonstrated the Defense Department's commitment to fielding a tactical UAV to support brigade/regimental and potentially maritime operational needs. The first flight will occur within six months of contract award, first system delivery within a year, and low-rate initial production (LRIP) is planned to begin 24 months after award, i.e., immediately following the end of the ACTD program. We plan to fund 62 systems by FY 2004.

Predator
Second, the transition of Predator from an ACTD to a production program occurred during this time frame. The Air Force committed Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funds and manpower billets to fully support the Predator system, as directed by the JROC. At a 13 June 1996 meeting at Langley AFB, Air Combat Command (ACC) outlined sustainment needs for the Predator program. Its program costs per system were baselined to include four AVs, one ground control station (GCS), one Trojan Spirit II dissemination system, and spares. The SecDef designated the Air Force as lead Service, U.S. Atlantic Command (USACOM) as Combatant Command, and the Navy as the acquisition agent.*

Pioneer
Third, with the restructuring of the Joint Tactical UAV Program, it became evident that Pioneer's phase-out needed to be extended from FY 2000 to FY 2003. More resources are now required to sustain Pioneer at its current level of readiness for nine systems through FY 1999, with phased decreases thereafter.

HAE UAVs
Fourth, within the HAE UAV ACTD, managed by DARPA, both UAVs are making progress. DarkStar is recovering from the loss of its first AV (which will be replaced by AV #2 in the flight test program), and Global Hawk has completed fabrication of AV #1 and is proceeding with ground tests and checkout in preparation for a planned first flight in 3Q/FY 1997. Additionally, the program is on track to produce a fully integrated Common Ground Segment capability for the HAE UAV system in 1Q/FY 1998

DARO has responsibility for overseeing the management of UAV funding and acquisition. By charter, it is the DoD's focal point for airborne reconnaissance acquisition matters, to include architectures, budget, finances, fiscal plans, system-level trade-offs, and commonality and inter-operability issues. As an Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) organization, DARO forwards key issues and recommendations to the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Steering Committee (DARSC), which is a DoD-wide corporate body co-chaired by the USD(A&T) and the Vice Chairman of the JCS (VCJCS). USD(A&T) is the decision authority for airborne reconnaissance acquisition.

For operational matters, the JCS is responsible for validating UAV operational requirements through the JROC UAV Special Study Group (SSG). The UAV SSG chairmanship rotates among the Services and reports to the JROC through the Joint Staff's Director for Force Structure, Resources & Assessment (J-8). From May 1995 through November 1996, the JROC has issued 13 memoranda (JROCMs) regarding UAVs, both to support OSD program decisions and to address military requirements and priorities. These memoranda are identified below. The JROC also sponsored the Reconnaissance Study Group (RSG), which was constituted to ascertain the costs and benefits of airborne reconnaissance assets (see page 43).

1 Implemented via USD(A&T) memo of 31 January 1996
2 Tactical UAV ACTD approved by USD(A&T) Acquisition Decision Memorandum of 21 December 1995.
3 Implemented via SecDef memo of 9 April 1996.