According to a communiqué from the 39th Security Consultative Meeting between the US and South Korean defense leaders, Seoul has completed upgrading a training range needed by USAF units on the peninsula. The lack of suitable air training ranges prompted former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to issue an ultimatum, but as recently as September, the Government Accountability Office expressed concern that the issue had fallen through the crack. Item No. 11 in the communiqué states that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Defense Minister Kim Jang Soo noted the “successful completion of the modernization of Jik-do training range [which] is helping to ensure appropriate training conditions for the [Republic of Korea] and US Air Forces.” So, is that it
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
