Record-breaking drone is ULTRA cheap, but too pricey for CENTCOM
New drones break CENTCOM record with 49 hours over ISIS-K target in Afghanistan
U.S. Central Command is preparing to send a pair of record-breaking drones back to the United States less than six months into their deployment because it can’t afford less than $2 million per month to keep them in the Middle East, according to a representative of their manufacturer, DZYNE Technologies Incorporated.
The decision to pull the drones out of theater removes a valuable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system for so-called “over-the-horizon” operations against ISIS-Khorasan, the main U.S. counterterrorism target in Afghanistan.
Based on commercially available glider technology, the two Unmanned Long-Endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft recently broke a record for time on target for unmanned aerial systems in Central Command’s area of responsibility, which covers the Middle East and Central Asia.
DZYNE partnered with the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop the drone in order to give the U.S. military eyes in the sky that can linger over targets for much longer than other unmanned aerial systems like the MQ-9 Reaper.
Both drones arrived in the Central Command region in March and began flying in April, the DZYNE official told The High Side. It was only in May that the Department of Defense quietly disclosed on its DVIDS website that the ULTRA was deployed to Central Command’s area of responsibility. Now sources familiar with drone operations in the region tell The High Side that it has broken a record for time over target.