Asked about Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne’s recent comments that USAF is “going out of business,” Geren—himself a former acting Air Force Secretary—was sympathetic. “The Air Force has a very old fleet of aircraft and does need to recapitalize, and the type of investment the Air Force needs to make is very expensive,” Geren said. He acknowledged that systems to counter the increasingly sophisticated threats the Air Force must counter are not cheap, and that USAF does suffer from a very real disadvantage in the budget battle due to a perception it has little contribution to combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Because they are not in the fight to the degree that the Army is leaves the Air Force “disadvantaged in the competition for funds,” Geren said.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
