According to the Air Force’s new acting Secretary, Pete Geren, the service has no intention of pitting the F/A-22 against the F-35 in budget battles. Both new fighters are needed, Geren assured an audience in Dallas Friday. Lockheed Martin is producing both aircraft, but the seat of action for the Joint Strike Fighter is Fort Worth and for the Raptor Marietta, Ga. Let’s hope Geren wasn’t playing to a home audience.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.