글로벌 호크 프로그램의 취소를 결정한 미 공군 -
dunkbear님 포스팅
"Defense Budget Priorities"- USDoD.
"Are offering or augmenting capability that already exists, but at significantly higher cost:
- Joint Air-‐to-‐Ground Munition (JAGM) - significantly reduced, but limited funding
sustained to enable lower cost alternatives such as Hellfire
- Global Hawk Block 30 - terminated (see example below)"
"
Example: When we initially invested in the Global Hawk Block 30 program, it held the promise of providing essentially the same capability as the U-‐2 manned aircraft for significantly less money to both buy and operate. As the program has matured, these cost savings have not materialized and, at best, we project the future cost of Global Hawk Block 30 operations to be comparable with the U-‐2. In this five-‐year budget, the cost of the Global Hawk program would significantly exceed the cost of the U-‐2
so we cancelled Global Hawk Block 30 and extended the U-2 program. Although this is a significant disappointment, our experience with Global Hawk Block 30 will help other global hawk programs like the Air Force Global Hawk Block 40, NATO's Aliiance Ground Surveillance (AGS), and the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS).""Pentagon slashes fighter squadrons, airlifters in new budget proposal"- Flightglobal 01/26/2012 기사.
"The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk procurement will also be truncated,
while the Block 40 variant of the high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle will be increased.""Northrop Grumman Statement on the Global Hawk Block 30 Program"- PR Newswire 01/26/2012
"The Pentagon announced today that it is planning to
cancel the Global Hawk Block 30 program and plans to perform this mission with the U-2 aircraft. Northrop Grumman is disappointed with the Pentagon's decision, and plans to work with the Pentagon to assess alternatives to program termination."
"We are pleased with the continuing support for the Global Hawk Block 40 system, as well as for the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance system and our other unmanned systems."요약: 취소된 건 블록 30뿐. 블록 40이나 BAMS, AGS 같은 다른 글로벌 호크 프로그램은 건재함.아마 문제의 발단은 dunkbear님이 소스로 쓰신
로이터스 기사(를 Aviation Week이 퍼온것)인 듯한데, 이 기사 자체도 사실:
"A U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the
Air Force’s Block 30 variant of the unmanned plane was being terminated in the budget request that will be sent to Congress Feb. 13."
저 문장에서는 블록 30이라고 제대로 적어 놓았지만 기사의 나머지 부분에서 이딴 문장을 써서 문제가 된 듯 합니다:
"
The U.S. Air Force has decided to scrap its Northrop Grumman high-altitude unmanned surveillance plane program and instead extend the life of its U-2 aircraft into the 2020s, according to a government official and a defense analyst."
사실 로이터스가 군사 전문 보도 언론도 아니고 엄밀히 말하자면 틀린 이야기도 아니지만, 저렇게 써 놓으면 아무래도 프로그램 자체가 끝장난다고 보기 쉽죠. 글 좀 제대로 쓸 것이지.
P.S. 얼마만의 밀리터리 포스팅인지 원(...)