Letters: Two views of the Global Hawk
Re “Global Hawk flies into budget battle,” Dec. 6
The Air Force’s decision to curtail its use of the Global Hawk spy drone demonstrates how clouded decisions can become in today’s fiscally constrained environment.
Near-term decisions based on fiscal challenges have to be tempered with their long-term strategic impacts. The Air Force is well aware of this, and balancing the fiscal realities of today with long-term benefits has always been a significant challenge for all the armed services, the Global Hawk being a prime example.
The Global Hawk represents today’s technology, but the Air Force initially planned to continue using the Cold War-era U-2 spy plane. With good reason, Congress overrode the Air Force’s recommendation and voted to continue appropriating funds for the Global Hawk.
The decision to keep the Global Hawk in the air is sound, as it represents the technology of today with flexibility for the future. Let us not be shortsighted and pursue antiquated solutions to the technological challenges of today; we simply can’t afford the long-term impacts.
James Pace
San Clemente
The writer is a retired executive on the Global Hawk program.
Your reporting of Northrop Grumman Corp. receiving a government contract to build three more Global Hawk spy drones despite the Air Force’s initial plan to mothball 18 of the planes it already has is a classic example of unwarranted, wasteful governmental spending.
Corporate lobbying and campaign “contributions” triumph again.
Gregory Hughes
Porter Ranch
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