Muellner said Boeing is putting greatest emphasis on persistent intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance assets, along with long-range strike, “because those are the two areas that our customers say are their greatest needs.” Toward that end, Boeing is emphasizing unmanned aerial systems with long endurance—“the unblinking eye,” Muellner said—range and sensors. However, he cautions that the sensor is not enough, that the information must be networked and distributed to provide overall situational awareness.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.