The QDR report announces, ex nihilo, that the Pentagon has decided to cut the Air Force’s Minuteman III ICBM force by 10 percent. Starting in 2007, it will take the fleet of long-range strategic nuclear weapons down from 500 to only 450 systems. The Pentagon does not justify the move with any analysis, at least none given publicly. All it provides is a claim that it is eliminating the ICBMs as part of an effort “to achieve the characteristics of the future joint force and build on progress to date.”
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.