McCain: Armed drones on border is ludicrous

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - For years, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been an advocate of additional resources on the U.S.- Mexico border.

But when asked about GOP Presidential Candidate Ben Carson's suggestion that border drones could be armed and used against "cartel caves," McCain said he believes that's going too far.

"Let me just say, the idea of arming drones to secure our border is something that flies in the face of everything we stand for and believe," he said.

McCain said there "should be more drones on the border" for surveillance purposes, to track and catch "people who are entering the country illegally."

Carson said he would support the use of armed drones if the military asked for them, but McCain said "the military would not ask for them."

McCain was in Tucson on Monday to speak to about 300 employees of Raytheon, one of the nation's largest defense contractors and the biggest private employer in Tucson with about 10,500 workers.

He said so far, Raytheon has been able to insulate itself from the large cuts the defense department has faced in the past two years because of the sequester.

The sequester was passed by Congress in 2013 as a budget cutting measure and slashes $54 billion from the defense budget annually.

McCain said Raytheon "has largely avoided that," by developing weapons systems which have increased capabilities, which can be used "in places like Syria and Iraq against precision targets."

For places like Davis-Monthan, Fort Huachuca, Yuma Proving Grounds and Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, he added, "it can be very damaging over time because they have now cut all the fat, now they're cutting the meat and soon they will be cutting the bone."

McCain said he vows to repeal the sequester but is facing budget cutters from the left and right, so it will be difficult but "not impossible."

There should also be concern about the dramatic drop in Wall Street averages in the past few days, he said.

"This is very dangerous because it's worldwide," he said.

He adds much of the blame can be placed on the economic issues in China, which he said is not as strong as it wants the rest of the world to believe.

He called this political season "weird," but said he had faith that the voters will chose two very viable candidates to carry their banners for the presidential election.