It looks like programs are going to be the main big bill-payer as the Air Force confronts a further $12 billion of belt-tightening over the next six fiscal years. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told defense reporters in Washington Tuesday morning that the service has done all that can be done in terms of reducing personnel and that the 2005 BRAC round will actually cost the Air Force rather than save it any money. “There’s a war on,” so readiness accounts can’t be raided, Wynne said. That leaves only programs as a cash cow.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.