{"id":135098,"date":"2017-09-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/06\/air-forces-next-uav-to-be-driven-by-data\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:47:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:47:55","slug":"air-forces-next-uav-to-be-driven-by-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2017\/09\/06\/air-forces-next-uav-to-be-driven-by-data\/","title":{"rendered":"US Air Force’s next drone to be driven by data"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Air Force\u2019s future model for developing and acquiring unmanned aerial vehicles will likely be much different than how it has conceptualized drones in the past, with less emphasis on the platform and sensors and more attention to the data a UAV collects and how it is analyzed and dispersed, one of the service\u2019s top intelligence officials said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the most part, Air Force officials have kept mum about future UAV platforms since the cancellation of the MQ-X program earlier this decade. However, Kenneth Bray, acting associate deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, said the service has done a fair amount of behind-the-scenes thinking on the topic over the past three to four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re starting to think not from the sensor of from the platform, we\u2019re starting to think from the data and decide, is it even collecting the right size data, or do I need to have different sensors on those platforms?\u201d he said. \u201cAre those platforms even relevant anymore or do I need a different platform because what I need is this type of data, and only this type of platform can get me that type of data? That is how we\u2019re going to change our thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past decade, the Air Force has grappled with how best to deal with the influx of intelligence available to it via space assets, manned and unmanned aircraft and even on public spaces like social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bray is expected to speak more about the future of Air Force UAVs during a panel on unmanned vehicles at the Defense News conference<\/a> on Sept. 6. However, during a Sept. 5 interview, he stressed that the service is moving away from a platform-centric approach and towards seeing UAVs as a tool to capture data.<\/p>\n\n\n\t