The new Pentagon plan envisions spending in 2007 of $84.2 billion for procurement of weapons and other systems, with modest growth in the following four years. The follow-up amounts are $99.7 billion (2008); $109 billion (2009), $111.7 billion (2010); and $118 billion (2011). It is not likely that these amounts will be sufficient to cover the cost of force modernization about a decade-and-a-half long “procurement holiday.”
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.