The use of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance has increased in recent months, mainly for flights over the Turkish border to keep watch over the Islamic State group, the top U.S. general in Europe said Tuesday.
Gen. Phillip Breedlove, head of U.S. European Command and NATO supreme allied commander, said that ISR has been a key component to support operations against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, as well as for missions in U.S. European Command, Africa Command and Central Command.
But the increased use of ISR is still "less than 10 percent" of EUCOM's requirement, Breedlove said.
In addition to the unmanned aircraft already in use, "EUCOM needs additional intelligence collection platforms, such as the U-2 or the RC-135 to assist the increased collection requirements in the theater," Breedlove said in his written testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The demand for Air Force ISR has been on a steady increase in recent years, especially in light of sprouting terrorist organization like ISIS.
For example, in December, the service announced that enlisted airmen would be able to fly the RQ-4 Global Hawk for ISR missions — the first enlisted pilots since World War II. The Pentagon has also started contracting with private businesses to conduct daily flights.
For fiscal 2017, the Air Force is planning to buy 24 new MQ-9 Reaper drones, according to budget documents. The aircraft is expected to replace the MQ-1 Predator, which the service plans to start phasing out over the course of 2017.
But the same conversation continues. Last year, Breedlove lamented over limited ISR because of higher demand in more robust theaters like CENTCOM.
"ISR is always short," Breedlove said last February. "Yes, I could use more ISR. But I understand the calculus by which it has been apportioned."
Oriana Pawlyk covers deployments, cyber, Guard/Reserve, uniforms, physical training, crime and operations in the Middle East, Europe and Pacific for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in 2015. Email her at opawlyk@airforcetimes.com.
