The agency responsible for providing imagery for the U.S. Department of Defense would like to step up its use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), an official said. However, the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and other agencies that would like to integrate UAVs into their operations likely will have to wait in line, because the demand for the vehicles by the U.S. military is so high, government and industry officials said. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency gathers and disseminates satellite and aerial imagery for the Defense Department using a wide range of classi fied and unclassified sources. Rob Zitz, the agency's technical executive said UAVs would be particularly useful in providing imagery in areas where manned aircraft are denied access. Imagery satellites are not constrained by airspace restrictions, but sensors aboard UAVs can provide higher resolution imagery and can linger over the tar-get.
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