By Marina Malenic
The Air Force has plans for a limited deployment of a powerful new airborne surveillance sensor next year as part of Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plan to provide ground troops with better situational awareness, service officials said this week.
The Wide-Area Airborne Surveillance (WAAS) sensor, nicknamed “Gorgon Stare,” will be flown on the Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle, according to Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
As Defense Daily reported last fall, the first-generation WAAS is expected to weigh approximately 1,500 pounds, which would make it too heavy to be flown on the Predator or the Army’s MQ-1 variant, the Sky Warrior.
The system is initially expected to provide a main full-motion video and 12 pre-programmable sub-views. Air Force officials have previously said that their goal is to provide up to 30 sub-views in future generations of the sensor.
Approximately $150 million is being spent on the project, according to budget documents. Sierra Nevada holds the sole-source contract.
The sensor, even in its first generation, will provide a broader video picture than legacy systems provide. The picture provided measures approximately 2.5 miles square, according to Air Force documents.
“We are going to be swimming in sensors and drowning in data,” Deptula told reporters at a July 7 Pentagon briefing.
As a result, the military will need more personnel to analyze the anticipated flood of information. Brig. Gen. Dash Jamieson, a senior member of Deptula’s staff, said 2,500 new billets would be created in the ISR field by shifting staff from other Air Force specialties.
The Air Force’s personnel roster is currently capped at 332,000 airmen and will not be changed to accommodate the need for analysts, Jamieson said.
Jamieson presented the plans as part of an overarching Air Force strategy to better determine and provide for Pentagon ISR needs.