The GAO has a constant stream of reports, which got disrupted by the government shut down.  Here are some recent releases whose titles sound like they may have something to do with drones.

 

Defense Acquisitions: Navy Strategy for Unmanned Carrier-Based Aircraft System Defers Key Oversight Mechanisms, GAO-13-833, September 26

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-833

I know that the US Navy has been testing various kinds of autonomous drones, which can land and take off from Aircraft Carriers, without a human in the loop.  I do not know how they avoid colliding with all the manned aircraft doing the same thing.

GAO found that in fiscal year 2014, the Navy plans to commit to investing an estimated $3.7 billion to develop, build, and field from 6 to 24 aircraft as an initial increment of Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) capability.  This is more than I knew before, and that is a staggering sum of money, but it is not clear from GAO summary, if they talking about autonomous or not.  Further, the GAO is not happy with the state of oversight or accountability, has some advice for Congress and the Secretary of Defense.  From the summary: This report

(1) assesses the UCLASS acquisition strategy,

(2) identifies key areas of risk facing the system, and

(3) notes areas where the Navy's strategy contains good practices.

To do this work, GAO reviewed the Navy's acquisition strategy and compared it to DOD's acquisition policy, among other criteria; and reviewed Navy acquisition documents and spoke with Navy and Office of the Secretary of Defense officials.

I downloaded a copy of the full report, to review later.

Here is its link: http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/658236.pdf

I named my copy: GAO Drones Military USN UCLASS 2013 Sept.

It is 1.2 Meg size, with 26 pages.

 

Defense Headquarters: DOD Needs to Reassess Options for Permanent Location of U.S. Africa Command, GAO-13-646, September 9

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-646

I know that there are a lot of drone operations, many places, including Africa.

I glanced at the summary.  It does not sound like this report involves drones.

Basically, AFRICOM HQ is in Germany because DoD asserts that’s cheaper than in the USA, but GAO is not convinced that exporting over 4,000 jobs is in the USA’s best interests.

 

Global Positioning System: A Comprehensive Assessment of Potential Options and Related Costs is Needed, GAO-13-729, September 9

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-729

I know that many drones navigate by GPS which can be hacked.

If I am reading the summary correctly, ½ of current USAF budget is eaten by outer space growth in GPS satellites from 24 to 30.  GAO says USAF cost analysis is a good start, but more is needed.

 

National Airspace System: Improved Budgeting Could Help FAA Better Determine Future Operations and Maintenance Priorities, GAO-13-693, August 22

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-693

I know that FAA has deadlines to approve dramatic increase of drones in NAS.  I suspect the sequester and other federal budget issues may have impacted that work.

This is about ATC Nex Gen, which is a plan to replace ground based Air Traffic Control with some GPS variant.  I can see many things which could go wrong, off-topic here, more suitable for RISKS.

I have heard NOTHING about Nex Gen impact on drone operations.  I suspect the portions of the gov focused on drones, and on Nex Gen, do not talk to each other.

GAO is concerned about ATC overworked from current operations, before drones added to the picture, and main reason ATC capacity problem is facilities falling apart from old age to such a degree that it is unsafe to send humans in to fix them.

 

If you are interested, I can forward off-list.  I also have links to scores of other GAO reports recently released, on topics of:

  • Homeland Security
  • Military
  • Foreign “Aid”
  • Food safety
  • Federal finances
  • Economy
  • Education
  • IRS
  • Post Office
  • A list of private companies with GAO investigations … I don’t recognize any as drone manufacturers, but I don’t have the complete list in my head.
  • And other topics

 

In my prior downloading of GAO reports, I have learned that GAO reports are works of the U.S. government, not subject to copyright protection in the United States. They may be reproduced and distributed in their entirety without further permission from GAO.[1] However, because these works may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce any of the content separately.

 

I previously downloaded:

  • 4 other GAO reports on Drone Military topics + 1 more today.
  • 2 on Drones worldwide (all nations)
  • 5 on Drones in NAS (domestic)

 

Al Mac = Alister William Macintyre

 


[1] Thus it would be Ok for me to upload to Scribd and other places.  But before I share with lots people, I want to study them myself.