Considering the heat Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has heaped on USAF over the past few years, his actions at Thursday’s Capitol Hill hearing on the Air Force budget were relatively benign. He pointed out that a lot of the ongoing military recapitalization is taking place in the Air Force and asked, “Do you think at some point we’re going to run into a brick wall?” He then asked service leader Michael Wynne to undertake a study of the costs of the new acquisitions, analyzing recent historic data on weapon system cost escalation to enable lawmakers to make educated decisions about where to spend. But, then McCain said, “If we’re going to have to make a decision between F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter, I’d like to make that decision sooner rather than later.” He added, “I’m not saying we are.” Hmmmm.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.