He also said it was "sad" the government had axed plans for new Nimrod surveillance aircraft.
Further write-offs loom over two contracts, for Nimrod marine-surveillance aircraft and new Astute-class nuclear submarines.
Nearby RAF Kinloss will effectively close after ministers cancelled orders for the new Nimrod MRA4 surveillance aircraft.
It was announced that RAF Kinloss would shut after ministers cancelled orders for the new Nimrod MRA4 surveillance aircraft.
Surveillance aircraft were withdrawn two years ago after the accidental downing of a civilian plane over neighbouring Peru with the loss of two lives.
It was announced earlier this year that RAF Kinloss in Moray would shut after ministers cancelled orders for the new Nimrod MRA4 surveillance aircraft.
The funds will provide, among other things, five new helicopters to increase mobility for the Mexican army and air force as well as new surveillance aircraft for the Mexican navy.
The Chinese military say that two of their East China Sea fleet fighter jets were scrambled to track an unnamed foreign surveillance aircraft on Sunday, according to China News Service.
Military surveillance aircraft scoured the battlefield -- from the lowest-flying aircraft such as the Army's Hunter and the Marines' Pioneer, to the Predator, to the higher-flying Global Hawk and U-2 -- and on up to the information-gathering satellites.
Last year Ecuador's government ended the lease under which American AWACS and Orion aircraft flew surveillance missions to spot drug movement in the eastern Pacific from a base at Manta.
ECONOMIST: Hoist on the petard of a dissuasive defence agreement
Among BAE Systems' plans, for example, is the co-operative control of drones, which would allow a pilot in a jet to fly with a squadron of the robot aircraft on surveillance or combat missions.
"But a great deal of it concerns our most sensitive systems, including aircraft avionics, surveillance technologies, satellite communications systems, and network security protocols, " he said.
The 330 military personnel comprise 200 soldiers going to West African nations, 40 military advisers to Mali, and 90 support crew for a C-17 transport aircraft and a Sentinel R1 surveillance plane.
BBC: Mali crisis: 330 UK military personnel sent to West Africa
The future for Intelligence , Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) and strike aircraft is stealth, extreme range, and extended persistence on-station.
Despite more than two million troops in uniform - not counting the US military - Nato has struggled, at times desperately, to sustain a deployment of 25, 000 to 40, 000 troops, not just in boots on the ground, but in crucial support assets such as helicopters, transport aircraft, maintenance, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and much more.
Consideration also should be given to leasing C-12 twin-engine aircraft outfitted for maritime patrol and counterinsurgency surveillance.
Swedish aircraft carried out a lot of airborne surveillance but couldn't upload the material into NATO's intelligence systems.
WSJ: For Europe's Defense Establishment, a Moment of Truth on Defense
In keeping with the strategic concept we agreed to in Lisbon and in order to fulfill our Article Five commitment to our collective security, we agreed to acquire a fleet of remotely piloted aircraft, drones, to strengthen intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Britain has also started to put these principles into practice, by pledging to buy aircraft-carriers, giant transport aircraft, and sophisticated air-to-ground surveillance systems.
They warn that national security will be dangerously exposed without the aircraft, which would have continued to provide long-range reconnaissance and surveillance, and protect the Royal Navy's Trident submarines.
Backers hope they will prove a cheaper alternative to helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft for tasks as varied as power and pipeline inspection, mapping, security, border surveillance, research, filming, fire fighting, search and rescue and delivering supplies.
ECONOMIST: A small Welsh airport has become an unlikely tech cluster
Agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and allied military services use the company's battery-powered, hand-launched unmanned aircraft systems to provide situational awareness to tactical operating units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance and communication.
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