Fortunately, sophisticated adversaries are not what we face today, and so the current operational environment affords maximum latitude for employing unmanned aircraft.

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It is based on current data about capacity which is operational, under construction, or has been consented.

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The current Iridium constellation has a stated operational life of just five years, more than one of which is already gone, but Motorola did have plans to extend the system's life, and eventually replace the satellites with models capable of handling data rates above 4800 bits per second.

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Worse yet, even if it were to be operational, military leaders say it would take more costly modifications to equip the MEADS system to handle our current and emerging military threats.

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