Drone maker can't keep pace with war needs, report says

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2008 | by Tom Vanden Brook

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's plan to put more drones in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan as a critical weapon against insurgents relies on a company that government investigators and military analysts say has not met the skyrocketing demand for the aircraft.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, maker of the unmanned Predator and Reaper planes, has shown it can't keep up with the workload for its contracts, according to a Government Accountability Office report released last month.

The company's Predator and Reaper drones are at the heart of the Pentagon's efforts in Afghanistan, as the drones are used to attack Taliban targets hiding in mountainous areas hard to reach on the ground.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made deploying more drones...