Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes, USAF’s deputy assistant secretary for budget, says that the estimated cost to get cut some 40,000 full-time positions—shedding military and civilian personnel—could amount to about $500 million. However, he told attendees Tuesday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in Washington that the savings potential is huge. For every 10,000 airmen cut, USAF will save a billion dollars, explained Faykes. He cautioned, though, that the Air Force would not know a concrete figure until the drawdown is complete, in 2009.
Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…