We Need the Raptor for China: Speaking at an AEI forum, Michael Vickers of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says the Air Force’s “job one” is “hedging against the rise of China.” He also had a simple prescription for carrying out this mission: Save the F/A-22. According to Vickers, the way to accomplish this feat is to scale back the F/A-22 program or kill “the big sucking chest wound” known as the Joint Strike Fighter.
The Department of the Air Force will be taking over the Pentagon’s prototype Joint Fires Network, or JFN, as it transitions to a fully fledged program of record, program executive officer for command, control, communications, and battle management Maj. Gen. Luke C.G. Cropsey told reporters Sept. 18.