DOD defines a UAV as a powered aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator; can be land-, air-, or ship-launched; uses aerodynamic forces to provide lift; can be autonomously or remotely piloted; can be expendable or recoverable; and can carry a lethal or nonlethal payload. Generally, UAVs consist of the aerial vehicle; a flight control station; information and retrieval or processing stations; and, sometimes, wheeled land vehicles that carry launch and recovery platforms. UAVs have been used in a variety of forms and for a variety of missions for many years. After the Soviet Union shot down a U-2 spy plane in 1960, certain UAVs were developed to monitor Soviet and Chinese nuclear testing. Israel used UAVs to locate Syrian radars and was able to destroy the Syrian air defense system in Lebanon in 1982. The United States has used UAVs in the Persian Gulf War, Bosnia, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions and to attack a vehicle carrying suspected terrorists in Yemen in 2002. The United States is also considering using UAVs to assist with border security for homeland security or homeland defense. The current generation of UAVs has been under development for defense applications since the 1980s. UAVs won considerable acceptance during military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 and 2003, respectively. They were used in these operations to observe, track, target, and in some cases strike enemy forces. These and similar successes have heightened interest in UAVs within DOD and the services. In fact, by 2010, DOD plans to have at least 14 different UAVs in the force structure to perform a variety of missions. Moreover, in the fiscal year 2001 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress established the goal that one-third of the Air Force’s deep-strike capability be provided by UAVs by 2010. The overall management of UAV programs has gone full circle. In 1989 the DOD Director of Defense Research and Engineering set up the UAV Joint Project Office as a single DOD organization with management responsibility for UAV programs. With the Navy as the Executive Agency, within 4 years the Joint Project Office came under criticism for a lack of progress. Replacing the office in 1993, DOD created the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office as the primary management oversight and coordination office for all departmentwide manned and unmanned reconnaissance. In 1998, however, this office also came under criticism for its management approach and slow progress in fielding UAVs. In that same year, this office was dissolved and UAV program development and acquisition management was given to the services, while the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence was assigned to provide oversight for the Secretary of Defense. Our report being issued today (Force Structure: Improved Strategic Planning Can Enhance DOD’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Efforts, GAO- 04-342, Mar. 17, 2004) analyzes recent funding trends for UAVs and makes recommendations to strengthen DOD’s strategic planning and management approach for UAVs. During the past 5 fiscal years, Congress provided funding for UAV development and procurement that exceeds the amounts requested by DOD, and to date the services have obligated about 99 percent of these funds. To promote the rapid employment of UAVs, Congress appropriated nearly $2.7 billion to develop and acquire UAVs from fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2003, compared with the $2.3 billion requested by DOD. The majority of the funds—$1.8 billion (67 percent)—have been for UAV research, development, test, and evaluation. Figure 1 displays the trends in research, development, test, and evaluation and procurement funding from fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2003. Over these 5 years, only three systems—the Air Force’s Predator and Global Hawk, and the Army’s Shadow—have matured to the point that they required procurement funding, amounting to about $880 million by fiscal year 2003 and another estimated $938 million needed by fiscal year 2005. Because Congress has appropriated more funds than requested, the services are able to acquire systems at a greater rate than planned. For example, in fiscal year 2003, the Air Force requested $23 million to buy 7 Predator UAVs, but Congress provided over $131 million, enough to buy 29 Predators. The Air Force had obligated 71 percent of the Predator’s fiscal year 2003 funding during its first program year. The Hunter, Predator, Pioneer, and Shadow are among the UAV systems currently being used, and therefore we determined the level of DOD’s operations and maintenance spending from fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2003 for these systems. Operations and maintenance funding has steadily increased over that period from about $56.6 million for three of the systems to $155.2 million in 2003 for all four. These increases are the result of a larger inventory of existing systems and the introduction of new systems. Figure 2 displays the operations and maintenance spending for these UAV systems for fiscal years 1999 to 2003. DOD has taken certain positive steps to improve the management of the UAV program by establishing a program focal point in the joint UAV Planning Task Force and trying to communicate a common vision for UAV development, the UAV Roadmap. While the creation of the Task Force and the UAV Roadmap are important steps to improve the management of the program, they are not enough to reasonably assure that DOD is developing and fielding UAVs efficiently. The Task Force’s authority is generally limited to program review and advice, but is insufficient to enforce program direction. Moreover, the UAV Roadmap does not constitute a comprehensive strategic plan for developing and integrating UAVs into force structure. Since 2000, DOD has taken several positive steps to improve the management of the UAV program. In October 2001, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics created the joint UAV Planning Task Force as the joint advocate for developing and fielding UAVs. The Task Force is the focal point to coordinate UAV efforts throughout DOD, helping to create a common vision for future UAV- related activities and to establish interoperability standards. For example, the Task Force is charged with developing and coordinating detailed UAV development plans, recommending priorities for development and procurement efforts, and providing the services and defense agencies with implementing guidance for common UAV programs. The development of the 2002 Roadmap has been the Task Force’s primary product to communicate its vision and promote interoperability. The Roadmap is designed to guide U.S. military planning for UAV development through 2027, and describes current programs, identifies potential missions, and provides guidance on developing emerging technologies. The Roadmap is also intended to assist DOD decision makers to build a long-range strategy for UAV development and acquisition in such future planning efforts as the Quadrennial Defense Review or other planning efforts. The joint UAV Planning Task Force’s authority is generally limited to program review and advice, but is insufficient to enforce program direction. The Task Force Director testified before the House Armed Services Committee in March 2003 that the Task Force does not have program directive authority, but provides the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics with advice and recommended actions. Without such authority, according to the Director, the Task Force seeks to influence services’ programs by making recommendations to them or proposing recommended program changes for consideration by the Under Secretary. According to defense officials, the Task Force has attempted to influence the joint direction of service UAV efforts in a variety of ways, such as reviewing services’ budget proposals, conducting periodic program reviews, and participating in various UAV-related task teams and has had some successes, as shown below: The Task Force has encouraged the Navy to initially consider an existing UAV (Global Hawk) rather than develop a unique UAV for its Broad Area Marine Surveillance mission. The Task Force has worked with the Army’s tactical UAV program to encourage it to consider using the Navy’s Fire Scout as an initial platform for the Future Combat System class IV UAV. The Task Force convinced the Air Force to continue with the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle program last year when the Air Force wanted to terminate it, and the Task Force ultimately helped the then-separate Air Force and Navy programs merge into a joint program. The Task Force convinced the Navy not to terminate the Fire Scout rotary wing UAV program as planned. However, the Task Force cannot compel the services to adopt any of its suggestions and consequently has not always succeeding in influencing service actions. For example, according to DOD officials, no significant progress has been made in achieving better interoperability among the services in UAV platform and sensor coordination, although efforts are continuing in this vein. Neither the Roadmap nor other DOD guidance documents represent a comprehensive strategy to guide the development and fielding of UAVs that complement each other, perform the range of missions needed, and avoid duplication. DOD officials acknowledged that the Office of the Secretary of Defense has not issued any guidance that establishes an overall strategy for UAVs in DOD. While high-level DOD strategic-planning documents—such as the National Military Strategy, the Joint Vision 2020, and the Defense Planning Guidance—provide some general encouragement to pursue transformational technologies, including the development of UAVs, these documents do not provide any specific guidance on developing and integrating UAVs into the force structure. At the same time, while the Joint Requirements Oversight Council has reviewed several UAVs and issued guidance for some systems, neither the Joint Staff nor the council has issued any guidance that would establish a strategic plan or overarching architecture for DOD’s current and future UAVs.