EXCLUSIVE: Allvin says Air Force must grow, even at ‘expense’ of other services
In an interview with Breaking Defense, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin argues the Air Force is most apt for an Indo-Pacific fight relative to other services.
In an interview with Breaking Defense, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin argues the Air Force is most apt for an Indo-Pacific fight relative to other services.
A new study from the Hudson Institute finds that while the People’s Liberation Army has made strides in recent years to make air bases more resilient against attack, similar investments by the US have been lacking.
Michigan’s defense ecosystem and expertise makes it a special asset for production.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recently suggested his service could take over the task of defending its air bases from the Army, as long as adequate funding was provided.
Anti-missile capabilities are just one aspect of more “robust” defenses needed for contested environments, which will also include sophisticated cyber attacks and electronic warfare.
“So this is kind of walking us back towards this model that we had during the Cold War, where we know each other, we train together, we're building the team in peacetime and in preparation for deployment,” a senior Air Force official said.
No aircraft were featured on the Air Force’s unfunded priorities list submitted to lawmakers today despite a decision to cut back on fighter procurement in FY25.
Gen. Mark Kelly, who heads the Air Force's Air Combat Command, said that the US's shrinking and aging aircraft fleet has emboldened Russian and Chinese pilots to seek "batting practice."
While the Pentagon is still figuring out how to effectively ferry supplies across the Indo-Pacific theater, a top TRANSCOM official warned that the command may not have all the tools it needs to accurately track supplies in transit.
During a military exercise in Wyoming, an MQ-9 Reaper made history by conducting its first highway landing alongside what the Air Force says is the greatest number of aircraft to pull off the tactic.
Building off trends established by the fiscal 2023 budget, the service is asking for even more retirements in FY24 while seeking to launch new efforts like a program to field autonomous wingmen. “We've built a budget that we think has a reasonable balance between current-, midterm- and longer-term investments, if you will, or capabilities,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said.
L3Harris believes that the KC-390 could be a key piece of the Air Force's next-generation KC-Z family of tankers due to its smaller size and ability to operate in austere environments.
"We have to demonstrate a resolve as a country and as an alliance that prevents the worst-case scenario from happening or nobody's going to care how much [readiness] I preserved for the future," Air Mobility Command head Gen. Mike Minihan said in an exclusive interview.