The Air Force plans to cut 3,530 active duty billets within US Air Forces in Europe over the next two years, which amounts to about 12 percent of airmen stationed there, reports Stars and Stripes. While the number of people/positions being cut in USAFE is much smaller than the 12,000 coming out of Air Combat Command, the percentage is larger because of the huge difference in the size of the two major commands. Air Force Materiel Command has been told to eliminate about 3,000 military personnel, which represents almost 14 percent of its active duty force, and 720 civilians—both presenting different concerns. All these cuts to people and positions are part of USAF’s push to drop 40,000—a mix of active, reserve, and civilian.
The Air Force’s Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile is behind schedule and may significantly overrun its expected cost, which could partially explain why the service is reviving the hypersonic AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid-Response Weapon.