The U.S. Air Force contested an audit report by the Pentagon’s inspector general which found that the service has not justified its plan to buy 401 General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft by 2019. The audit report is based on outdated information, responded the Air Force, which said that it plans to buy 55 fewer Reapers.

A summary of the IG’s audit report, dated September 30, states that Air Combat Command officials did not obtain approval from the Pentagon’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) to increase the procurement quantity and did not “conduct and maintain consistent, complete and verifiable analyses for determining the necessary aircraft quantity.” As a result, the service risks spending $8.8 billion to purchase, operate and maintain 46 Reapers “it may not need.”

The IG recommends the Air Combat Command director of plans, programs and requirements perform “comprehensive analyses to determine the necessary quantity” of Reapers and submit the MQ-9 production document to the JROC and Air Force requirements council for validation before deciding the number of aircraft to procure in Fiscal Year 2015, which began this month. The IG released the audit report in summary form; those desiring the full report are instructed to file a Freedom of Information Act request.

In an October 2 release, the Air Force said it plans to procure 346 aircraft, “far less” than it originally planned before Congress required budget cuts through “sequestration.” It has received about half that number. “The data in the ([IG)] report is a year old,” stated Lt. Gen. Robert Otto, Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

In Fiscal Year 2015 budget documents, the Air Force has said that it intends to “fully resource” 55 combat air patrols of four MQ-9s each with spares by FY2019. The smaller, less capable MQ-1 Predator will be retired.