As other potentially adversarial countries pursue fielding unmanned aerial vehicles, the United States will have to stay one step ahead in being able to track enemy drones and thwart their missions, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said this week.
“The fact is that unmanned systems are increasing in the world that we’re involved,” Panetta told a gathering at the National Press Club, adding the other nations have taken note of the effectiveness of American UAVs in the war on terrorism.
“We do have to keep track of other countries that decide to get into the UAV business. And they are,” he said. “Iran, other countries in the Middle East, are also beginning to develop that capability.”
We have got to be able…to track where those UAVs are and take steps to ensure that–particularly when it comes to surveillance–that we can do everything possible to try to make sure that they are not capable of surveilling what they’re after.”
“That requires a lot of technology and development, but it is an area that we are focused on in order to protect ourselves in the future,” said Panetta, who plans to leave his post in the coming weeks.
The United States and Iran have had recent run-ins over UAVs. In November, the Pentagon alleged that Iran had fired over a drone flying in international skies in the Persian Gulf. The Iranians said the MQ-1 Predator violated its airspace. Earlier this year, a U.S. UAV went down in Iranian territory. Tehran claimed to have commandeered the plane while Washington attributed the crash to a malfunction.