Submission + - Predator Unmanned Aircraft Causing Data Overload
Hugh Pickens writes: "The Washington Post reports that the flow of data from Predator unmanned aircraft flying combat patrols over Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere not only exceeds capabilities to interpret and exploit the data, but probably soon will exceed the bandwidth available to carry it to ground stations. "According to US Central Command officials, the command exploits less than one-half of the electronic-signal intercepts collected from the Predator," says Davi M. D'Agostino, GAO's director of defense capabilities and management, adding that information collected by wide-area sensors is saved on computer disks and flown back to the United States for review and dissemination "because current networks in the theater of operations cannot handle the large amount of data." Another problem is the failure by the services to develop common electronic systems so they can share Predator data (PDF). The full-motion videos gathered daily by the Army cannot be automatically shared with the Air Force and the Army's common sharing system for collections by its unique systems, such as Shadow and its version of the Predator, is not expected to be available to others until 2016. Although these aircraft have "enormous capability and concept advantages," they "are not a panacea for air warfare nor replacement for manned aviation," says Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance."
