A draft report by the US Air Force’s 53rd Wing Group at Eglin Air Force Base said that the new system, dubbed Gorgon Stare*, had “significant limitations,” and is “not operationally effective” and should therefore not be deployed in the field. The Sierra Nevada built device transmits live video from nine cameras and is intended to cover a three-mile area. It has been in development for the last two years. Testers found 13 serious deficiencies in the system, including:
- Deficient infra-red performance, which would hinder the sensor’s ability to capture images at night
- Inadequate resolution of images to track people on the ground in real time
- Inability to determine their exact location
- A 12- to 18-second delay in receiving images on the ground
- Unpredictable system reliability and lack of system documentation
- Maintenance and reliability problems – the system was available only 64% of the time
- Low-resolution and a frame rate of just 2 per second, compared to 30 in standard-issue cams
- Installation: To carry the Gorgon Stare pod plus the required processing pod, Reapers have to be stripped of other sensors and weapons and structurally reinforced. The layout of the underwing pod puts it in the way of the Reaper’s nose-mounted ranging laser, meaning Reaper remote pilots could accidentally “lase” and blind their own cameras.
- Glitches in the video feed. The system is “subject to gaps between stitching areas [where the camera images meet], which manifests itself as a large black triangle moving throughout the image.”
The report concluded that Gorgon Stare “cannot reliably find and track human targets; it has additional problems for moving targets, and the random location inaccuracy makes the system virtually unusable for prosecuting even stationary targets.”
The Pentagon spent more than $400 million on the programme in 2009-2010.
*named Gorgon Stare after the mythical Greek creature whose terrifying gaze turned others to stone
Read further articles in The Washington Post and The LA Times