Defense Secretary nominee Robert Gates breezed through the packed Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, with Senators bent on replacing Donald Rumsfeld sooner than yesterday. Everyone expects Gates to receive full Senate affirmation, if not acclamation Wednesday. Responding to questions about a “fundamentally inadequate” defense budget topline from Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and the need to replace aging platforms by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the SECDEF-designee acknowledged that he thinks additions to the topline might be “a very real possibility.” He noted, too, the relatively low level of defense spending as a percentage of the GDP, saying, “I think there may be some flexibility.”
After years of experiments and tests, senior Air Force leaders say they're on the verge of using C-17s and other cargo aircraft to launch cruise missiles via airdrop, touting the development as a way to bolster the combat fleet and a major shift in the service’s mindset.