U.S. military leaders plan to spend $2.45 billion next year on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) procurement and research, with the RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-9 Reaper, and the experimental U.S. Navy Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance And Strike (UCLASS) system expected to be the biggest winners.
The Pentagon's proposed flying drone budget of $2.45 billion in fiscal 2015 is up 15.8 percent from this year's enacted UAV spending level of 2.1 billion, and is up 3 percent from what the Pentagon requested for this year, according to Pentagon budget documents.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) released its proposed fiscal 2015 budget this past Tuesday. Federal fiscal year 2015 begins next October 1.
Military leaders propose spending $855.79 million next year on procurement and research for the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude long-endurance UAV and on the MQ-4 Triton, Northrop Grumman's maritime patrol version of the Global Hawk.