WASHINGTON: The US Army took aim on Friday at an Air Force drive to take control of its growing fleet of drones flying 31,070 metres and higher above battlegrounds.

“Don’t get into the tactical (ground) commander’s fight,” said Brig-Gen Stephen Mundt, director of army aviation. “Don’t get into the way we do business.”

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Michael Moseley took the Army by surprise on March 6, when he asked the Defence Department to tap the Air Force as its “executive agent” for medium-and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs.

Putting the Air Force in charge, Moseley argued in a memorandum, would centralise purchases, standardise operations and control “ballooning” bandwidth needs to prioritise intelligence distribution.

“I request this action be taken soonest,” he said, vowing to put out within 45 days a comprehensive plan to optimize US intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Remotely piloted vehicles, or drones, are increasingly used by US forces for everything from full-motion video pictures to firing on-board missiles.

The Air Force is seeking nearly $13 billion to buy 241 such craft in fiscal 2008, which starts Oct 1. It is already the Pentagon’s executive agent for space. The Army, by contrast, is executive agent for ammunition, meaning it buys bullets and such for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.—Reuters