$2.2 Billion ISR 'spy plane' budget for Iraq / Afghanistan wars

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon plans to spend $2.2 billion (1.1 billion pounds) on a new fleet of spy planes and unmanned drones for Iraq and Afghanistan that would greatly enhance the ability of U.S. forces to track militants, officials said on Thursday.

The expansion of what military officials call "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance," or ISR, efforts is part of a push by Defence Secretary Robert Gates to use military force with greater discretion in the two counterinsurgency campaigns.

Gates believes military operations should be subordinated to economic, political and social-development programs in countries vulnerable to Islamist militancy.

The plan, which includes 51 C-12 twin-turboprop Huron aircraft equipped with sensors and video cameras, will let U.S. commanders better follow the movements of militant groups and take action against them, a senior Defence official said.

yahoo news

A pic of the basic airframe here (US Forces version)

Flickr


Seems money is no object when it comes to these wars. Pity people in the USA are starving and have no health care... but oil wars are OK.