Adhering to 2018 Bomber

Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, said this week that he believes the Air Force can field a new bomber by the 2018 date imposed by the Quadrennial Defense Review. Speaking at a breakfast sponsored by Government Executive, Moseley said, “We can make 2018, because we’ve asked industry to look at using the existing engines, existing sensors, existing weapons, weapons bays.” Greg Grant reports that Moseley believes the 2018 bomber, considered an interim step on the road to a new, perhaps unmanned, long range strike platform, will be able to “tear up” enemy air defenses, which have grown in sophistication since development of the B-2 stealth bomber. Defense analysts have questioned whether it’s possible to meet the 2018 deadline, and recently industry representatives questioned whether the Pentagon is putting the necessary money into the program to make that date.