Hunting America's Most Wanted While Saving Money, Lives, and Face: The Rise of RPA.

摘要

This thesis responds to a national debate about the America s controversial workhorse in recent military conflicts remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). It seeks to answer why the United States rapidly expanded its RPA inventory in lieu of other alternatives in recent years. Conventional wisdom suggests the rise of RPA was chiefly due to economic reasons. However, the variables, both monetary and non-monetary, that played a role in the decision to expand America s RPA inventory are unsettled today and could impact its future. Some decision makers believe RPA rose because they were cheaper than manned systems. Other leaders agree that money was a factor but contend RPA growth was primarily due to system capability. Still a third group argues that politics may have been the chief cause of expansion. Each variable money, capability, and politics presents a number of associated implications for decision makers and strategists. The United States military and other government organizations supporting national defense will continue to operate under significant budget constraints for the foreseeable future; therefore, it is important to examine the opportunity-cost, decisionmaking process throughout RPA expansion. Second, since delivering the most capable weapon systems to the warfighter is considered a fundamental imperative of decision makers, it is also critical to investigate whether RPA provided increased capability to their most important customers. Third, it is essential to examine whether RPA growth was primarily related to politics because opinions and perspectives on the most capable, versus the most necessary, weapons can be situational and subjective. Ultimately, this thesis traces key RPA events and decision-making processes in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan from 1999-2014 in order to help senior leaders and military personnel better understand the intricacy surrounding the decision-making process of a weapon system that has become a vital national security asset.