Close this Advertisement

Air Force needs 600 more UAV pilots, sensor operators

  • By Defense Systems Staff
  • Jun 15, 2012

The Defense Department is struggling to find enough people to operate its expanding fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles, and the Air Force in particular is suffering from the shortage, reports Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai at Wired's Danger Room blog.

An April 2012 report on the future of UAVs overseen by DOD chief weapons-buyer Frank Kendall, which was obtained by Inside Defense, revealed that the agency is not only short on analysts to sift through the voluminous data gathered from UAVs, but also that there simply aren't enough UAV pilots and sensor operators, the story said.

To address the problem, the Air Force will hire new outside instructors as well as jump-start two new educational initiatives, the story said.

Reader Comments

Please post your comments here. Comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately after submitting. We will not post comments that we consider abusive or off-topic.

Your Name:(optional)
Your Email:(optional)
Your Location:(optional)
Comment:
Please type the letters/numbers you see above

Webcast

  • Improving Performance Management and Project Control to Meet Cost/Schedule Milestones in DoD Procurement

    It can be nearly impossible to build annual budgets that consider forecasted project and program work plans along with detailed cost data, particularly when attempting to reconcile actual and projected program costs with actual schedule performance. In this webcast, a defense IT program manager will share best practices and hard-won lessons aligning critical data on project performance, cost systems and schedules for truly big picture program management insight. Read more