---
title: "DoD And DEA Paid $86M For A Spy Plane That Never Got Off The Ground"
date: "2017-09-14"
modified: "2017-09-14"
authors:
  - name: "James Clark"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/james-clark/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/this-86m-spy-plane-never-flew/"
categories:
  - "Aircraft"
  - "Around the World"
  - "News"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
  - "United States"
tags:
  - "scandals"
---

# DoD And DEA Paid $86M For A Spy Plane That Never Got Off The Ground

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/19042698-1.png>)

A joint effort by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Department of Defense to modify a plane for counter-narcotics surveillance operations in Afghanistan never got off the ground; in fact, it never left the hangar. But it did leave a hefty bill: roughly $86 million in funding from the two agencies, according to [The Washington Post](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/03/30/dea-drug-fighting-plane-doesnt-fly-but-costs-soar/?utm_term=.180f00867984>) — 10 times the aircraft’s original cost.

The [ATR 500](<https://www.atraircraft.com/datas/download_center/34/fiches_500_septembre2014_34.pdf>), a 75-foot long twin-prop aircraft typically configured for passenger flights, was purchased by the [Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats](<https://policy.defense.gov/OUSDP-Offices/ASD-for-Special-Operations-Low-Intensity-Conflict/Counternarcotics-and-Global-Threats/>) in September 2008 for $8.6 million. Called the Global Discovery Program, the hope was to outfit the bird with advanced surveillance technology and make it suitable for operations in a combat environment with the ultimate goal of flying counternarcotics missions for the DEA and DoD in Afghanistan.

Related: Criminal Probe Launched Over $28 Million ‘Forest’ Uniforms For Afghan Troops »

But it didn’t work out that way. Costs ballooned and delays added up.

Photo via Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General.

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-1188.png>)

The plane was modified for surveillance operations in Afghanistan, but even if it's flight ready by tomorrow, it'd be too late: The DEA no longer runs aviation ops in the country.

“Even though collectively the DEA and DOD have spent more than $86 million on the Global Discovery program, we found that, over 7 years after the aircraft was purchased for the program, the aircraft remains inoperable, resting on jacks, and has never actually flown in Afghanistan,” reads [a Sept. 13 report](<https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/a1616.pdf#page=3>) from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General.

The program was plagued by a lack of clearly defined requirements for its modifications, and it faced missed deadlines, frequent personnel changes, and duplication of work — to include making, and then removing, bespoke mods.

Photo via Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General.

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-1189.png>)

An ATR 500 aircraft purchased by the Department of Defense and the Drug Enforcement Agency for $8.6 million ended up costing the agencies ten times that amount.

Even if the aircraft was suddenly flight-ready today, it wouldn’t matter: The DEA no longer conducts aviation operations in Afghanistan, [the report notes](<https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/a1616.pdf#page=3>). Officials now hope to use the plane in other DEA areas of operation — like the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, according to [The Washington Post.](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/03/30/dea-drug-fighting-plane-doesnt-fly-but-costs-soar/?utm_term=.180f00867984>)

It’s not like the military has a shortage of [surveillance aircraft](<https://www.businessinsider.com/all-the-planes-in-us-air-force-2016-5>) operating overseas — heck, they can even spare a few [to occasionally circle over major U.S. cities](<https://www.twz.com/13154/this-mysterious-military-spy-plane-has-been-flying-circles-over-seattle-for-days>), which makes this boondoggle particularly irksome. Especially when you consider the ATR 500’s market value in 2008 [was about $6 million](<https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/a1616.pdf#page=4>).

**WATCH NEXT:**

## Author
James Clark is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. He is a former Marine and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/JamesWClark>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jclarkjournalism/>)