Analysis - "Do Drones Have a Future?"

A lengthy analysis was posted on October 7, 2014 on the War on the Rocks website entitled "Do Drones Have a Future?" The bottom line is that the future ". . . looks less favorable". The article states that budget cuts and bureaucratic resistance are cutting back on the growth of drones. The article provides a summary of the drones within each service (Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines) and some of the needs, gaps, and issues associated with the services. Some snippets of the article follow. The Air Force, despite training a huge number of drone pilots, does not have good promotion futures for drone operators. The Navy is having some problems with the roll-out of its Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft. (I think the acronym hurts the program!). The Marines need a sea-based system similar to the Predator or Reaper to support their expeditionary operations. The Army, surprisingly, seems to be in the lead in terms of innovation - take note of its manned-unmanned teaming concept pairing up UAVs with Apache helicopters. The article also addresses some of the cultural aspects of drone deployment and future technologies to be on the watch for. Very informative and worth a read!