The Air Force is well into currently planned upgrades for its B-2 bomber fleet and has others in mind, according to Lt. Col. Brian Zembraski, staff director for the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo. He recounts addition of improved bomb racks—increasing the weapons load by 500 percent—and stealth coating upgrades that reduce maintenance time, as well as projected avionics advances. All of which should sit well with new House Armed Services Committee Chair Ike Skelton. The Missouri Democrat is on record as saying that the Air Force should continue to modernize the B-2, which he believes can “satisfy a large percentage” of future long-range strike requirements.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
