On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 13:19:34 GMT, "John Doe"
wrote in et::

So you feel that operating a UAV on this border patrol mission at a
cost that exceeds that of operating a C-182 by several orders of
magnitude is not worth griping about? Why is a UAV the platform of
choice in this mission? It's technology is unnecessary and ill suited to
the mission; the money is better spent on ground agents and
deportation funding. There is no rational justification for using
UAVs, in my opinion. It's just a way for the Bush administration to
get headlines and pander to General Atomics's business interest
without materially affecting the influx of illegals which might dry up
the cheap labor pool.


I agree, BUT, show we ONE company that has put in a contract bid to do this
mission?

I can't even find the text of the Request For Proposal, let alone a
list of bidders and their proposals. Have you tried to research that?

Anyone out there willing to do this job (covering the same loiter times as
the UAV) needs to come forward and put in a bid for it.

It is my understanding that the RFP was written is such a way that
sensible and cost effective solutions would not meet the request.

We can bitch all we want but if no one out there wants to do it, what is the
government supposed to do?

What makes you think no one want's to do it?

If the Bush administration were truly interested in stemming the tide
of illegal border crossings, it would request proposals that would
accomplish that task, not set up restrictive proposal criteria for
which the only solution is domestic UAV operations.