“We're very, very fixated on being competitive with the pacing challenge [of China],” said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. “I think the budget that we've submitted moves us forward — not quite as fast as we would like to, but it moves us forward in the right direction while maintaining current capabilities that are essential to the nation.”
F-35 squads at Hill AFB, Utah, Eielson AFB, Alaska, Luke AFB, Ariz., and Eglin AFB, Fla. could all face risks due to a maintainer shortage at Tyndall.
Cybersecurity skills must evolve in near-real time as Zero Day threats continue and AI provides new challenges.
In 2021, Air Force laid a path for big changes coming down the line in 2022 and beyond.
The A-10 lives, it BRRTs, it lives again!
Today’s technology won’t win tomorrow’s fight and there aren’t enough resources to win while maintaining our current fleet. A modernized force is the only way to keep our nation, allies, and communities safe," writes Gen. Arnold Bunch.
"We've got to recognize and begin to shift toward a future operating environment and the changing character of war, and we must shift the capabilities that are going to be relevant, survivable and effective against a tier one adversary sometime in the future. This is a modest decrease in the number of A-10s I think it is an acceptable risk and I support the Air Force's recommendation," Gen. Milley said.
"His greatest challenge will be to build the coalition in Washington, and particularly on Capitol Hill, that will support new ways of rapidly developing capabilities," says former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.
Anyone who's been around ground combat knows F-35s, F-22s and legacy fast jets are far too fast and lack the close in maneuverability to be able detect camouflaged threats to our troops or to separate friend from foe in a highly fluid firefight.
"The Senate is saddling the service with unsupportable funding requirements," Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group says.
The Air Force leaders who sought to retire the A-10 in 2014 did not want to cut the aircraft, but they had no other choice due to the Budget Control Act of 2011. While that era has passed, the same dynamics are still at play— a service that is under-resourced, overtasked, compelled to retire aircraft to free up resources to modernize the remaining inventory of mostly geriatric aircraft.
Consolidate network monitoring, performance management, and fault isolation into a single, comprehensive solution.
As the Pentagon finishes its strategic review, the stage is set for another struggle over whether to ready for a high-end war with Russia or China or just manage the current, much lower intensity battles around the world. In military terms it’s a choice between capability and capacity. The outcome will shape the four services […]
WASHINGTON: If Congress was skeptical of bombers and fighters doing Close Air Support, how will they react to MQ-9s doing the toughest CAS mission around — taking out targets in the close confines of an urban fight? Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the soon-to-retire head of Air Combat Command, told reporters this morning that the Reaper is […]
WASHINGTON: Congressional supporters can heave a sigh of relief with word from Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein that the ugly and effective A-10 will keep flying through 2021. But Goldfein seemed to make pretty clear that the plane will probably be retired after that because Close Air Support missions can be carried out by […]
UPDATED: With Sen. Ayotte’s Comments WASHINGTON: The Air Force doesn’t know enough about the missions that A-10 pilots fly or how it would replace the aircraft after retirement, a congressional watchdog says, putting yet another nail into the service’s attempts to save money and retire the much-loved Warthog. Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate […]