The U.S. military is using more than 10 types of unmanned aerial vehicles to support operations in Iraq, more than three times the number used in Afghanistan, a defense official said March 26.

The aircraft being used for Iraq provide a "broad range of capabilities" and include the Army's Hunter, Pointer and Shadow; the Marine Corps' Dragon Eye and Pioneer; and the Air Force's Force Protection Surveillance System, Global Hawk and Predator, said Dyke Weatherington, deputy of the Defense Department's UAV planning task force. In addition, several other small systems are supporting specialized requirements.

Only three systems - Global Hawk, Pointer and Predator - were used in Afghanistan. DOD used just one type of UAV, Pioneer, in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

"The services' use of UAVs has come a long way in the past decade," Weatherington testified before the House Armed Services Committee's airland subcommittee.