The House Armed Services Committee believes that the services may have blurred the “lines of responsibility for unmanned aerial vehicles, space systems, and mobility systems, … along with traditional lines between naval, expeditionary, and ground forces.” The result, states the committee’s summary of its markup of the 2008 defense authorization bill, is the “duplication of numerous capabilities.” The committee proposes an “overdue” major internal review. It wants DOD to conduct this roles and missions review every four years and to organize into core mission areas and seek out service capabilities that are outside their core competency. This sounds mighty like the Air Force’s plea for some sanity in the UAV arena.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
