U.S. plans surveillance buildup in Iraq, Afghanistan

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department plans to spend $2.2 billion on a new fleet of spy planes and unmanned drones for Iraq and Afghanistan that would greatly enhance the ability of U.S. forces to track militants, officials said on Thursday.

The expansion of what military officials call "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance," or ISR, efforts is part of a push by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to use military force with more precision in the two counterinsurgency campaigns.

Gates believes military operations should be subordinated to economic, political and social-development programs in countries battling Islamist militants.

The plan, which includes 51 C-12 twin-turboprop Huron aircraft equipped with sensors and video cameras, will let U.S. commanders better follow the movements of militant groups and take action against them, a senior defense official said.

The C-12 aircraft was built for years by Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon Co, but the company sold its aircraft unit last year to a private equity group including Goldman Sachs and Onyx.

U.S. forces would also be able to consistently monitor larger swaths of territory, potentially vital for commanders in places like eastern Afghanistan, where militant crossings from Pakistan pose a growing insurgency threat, officials said.

The planned intelligence and surveillance expansion comes as the Bush administration considers the withdrawal of more U.S. troops from Iraq and a buildup of forces in Afghanistan.

The United States currently has about 144,000 troops in Iraq and 34,000 in Afghanistan.  Continued...