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Two thirds of the US’s high-altitude Global Hawk drones ($130m each) may be scrapped after one of them was shot down by Iran in the Persian Gulf in June.
The Global Hawk spy drone has been the Pentagon’s top long-range craft for 18 years, conducting spy missions across the Middle East, Afghanistan, the Asia-Pacific region and North Africa. Each one costs $130 million.
Current, and former US defense officials told the Foreign Policy that the US Air Force is considering to slash as many as 21 of its 35 RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude drones, as part of a series of steep cuts to legacy programs.
The report says that the proposal has been submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for review as part of annual budget negotiations.
