In the
battle to save the F/A-22, the Air Force and Army are squared off against the Marine Corps and Navy. The Marine Corps is the big opponent. It wants F/A-22 money for its own use, and now, said an insider. The Navy, though less overt, sees F/A-22 as a rival to carrier air, especially in a China scenario. The Army, meanwhile, has come to regard USAF as a reliable battlefield partner, one which does not leave engaged Army units without air cover.
After years of describing to lawmakers and Pentagon leaders the nature of that threat and the key role spacepower plays in deterring conflict in the domain and enabling the rest of the joint force, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told reporters during AFA’s Warfare Symposium here that the message appears to…