Meanwhile, Air Force leaders continue to press Congress to allow the service to manage its own inventory of aircraft, saying that without that control the service faces “risk” in its ability to meet future requirements. In a statement to the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, noted that 14 percent of its aircraft are “either grounded or operating under mission-limiting flight restrictions.” They asserted that “current legislative restrictions” would cost the service “up to $1.7 billion annually through 2013.”
While the Space Force is still making long-term plans to establish high-fidelity live and virtual test and training ranges in the coming years, officials say they're also working with operators to identify near-term gaps and quickly field capabilities to address them.
