Joint Stars and the Darkstar Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: An Operating and Support Cost Estimate

摘要

With the 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review's (QDR) reduction of Joint STARS aircraft from 19 to 13, the program will not be able to maintain the Department of Defense requirement to fully support two major theater wars (MTWs) . One strategy is to supplement Joint STARS with long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). One particular UAV, the Low Observable High-Altitude Endurance (LO HAE) Tier III Minus 'DarkStar,' is capable of filling in the coverage gap left by the QDR's decision, and potentially replacing the Joint STARS system one day if certain capabilities are expanded. This study provides a brief history of UAVs to date, leading up to where the technology is today. It compares the annual operating and support (O&S) costs for the Joint STARS and DarkStar programs in fiscal year (FY) 1996 dollars using the Cost-Oriented Resource Estimating (CORE) model. A potential 2006 force structure is used as the scenario, when all 13 Joint STARS aircraft are to be delivered and 12 DarkStars can be available. The Joint STARS model is measured against an O&S cost estimate provided by the Joint STARS Joint Program Office (JPO) for validation of the CORE model. The JPO's annual cost estimate was $269.3M vs. CORE's S271.3M, a difference of only 0.7%. The DarkStar estimate was $54.8M, an inexpensive solution compared to procuring another six Joint STARS aircraft.