While the RCV program was not explicitly mentioned as one of the Army’s “obsolete programs,” Driscoll said, after putting the RCV concept to the test, the system proved to be “incredibly valuable, but the actual cost ratio just didn’t work.”
“What we’ve seen, and this has been seen all over the world, is we keep creating and purchasing these exquisite machines that very cheap drones can take out,” Driscoll said during a May 6 episode of the War on the Rocks podcast.
He added, “We are the wealthiest nation, perhaps in the history of the world, but even we can’t sustain a couple-million-dollar piece of equipment that can be taken out with an $800 drone and munition.”
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said during the podcast that changes are on the horizon, from what military assets the Army plans to invest in, like long-range missiles, to how the service itself is organized.
Though the RCV program is in limbo, George added that the service isn’t entirely abandoning autonomous systems but is instead considering the “cost curve for us.”
“If modern technology can give you something that is a 10th of the cost, a 20th of the cost, we shouldn’t be locked into buying something that is terribly expensive,” George said.
