It would seem that the Pentagon let the cart get before the horse when it OK’d the plan to retire all USAF’s high-flying U-2 reconnaissance aircraft by Fiscal 2011. There apparently is concern from warfighting commanders that there may be a gap in ISR coverage during the switchover from U-2 to Global Hawk UAV (see above). Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Armed Services tacair subcommittee, asserted Thursday that he had received back-channel indications from combatant commanders noting a problem. A senior DOD intelligence official assured lawmakers that if US Strategic Command finds a gap, DOD would “make changes.”
President Donald Trump wants his signature Golden Dome missile defense program to be up and running before the end of his term and has tapped Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein to lead the project.