
To better put the Coast Guard in a position to counter drug smuggling far from American shores, Senate Appropriators are recommending a significant boost in the service’s research and development (R&D) efforts for long-range unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).In its markup last week of the Department of Homeland Security’s FY ’17 spending request, the Senate Appropriations Committee proposes adding $18 million to the Coast Guard’s R&D branch specifically “to test and evaluate the use of ultra-long endurance UAS in support of…