The Pentagon has directed USAF to speed up work toward a new long-range strike aircraft, advancing the “to be fielded” date from 2037 to 2018. Ken Kreig, for one, sees no problem with advancing the program by nearly 20 years. The Pentagon acquisition chief told reporters on Feb. 10, “I think there’s a lot of time.” He prefaced that by saying the Air Force needs to conduct an analysis of alternatives to focus on the different ways to create a desired “set of effects” and then he said, “One … tries to figure out what the acquisition strategy is.” Where is H.G. Wells when you need him?
F-16 Tests ‘Rusty Dagger’ Extended-Range Missile
April 20, 2026
The Air Force recently tested the Rusty Dagger, a low-cost cruise missile, with the F-16, one of several industry offerings in the Pentagon's larger effort to field affordable weapons. The Air Force release states that the Team Eglin Test Enterprise conducted Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) testing at Eglin Air…