Paul McHale, the Pentagon point man for Homeland Defense, said Tuesday in Washington that Noble Eagle combat air patrols are still necessary even in the now unlikely event that terrorists could take control of a civilian aircraft and turn it into a weapon as they did on Sept. 11, 2001. The stateside CAPs, predominantly flown by the Air National Guard, will continue, noted McHale, “with varying degrees of intensity.”
The Air Force ramped up operations and maintenance spending to keep its F-35A fighters flying over the past six years, but readiness continues to lag behind goals, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.