Talk around the Beltway never strays far from spending puzzles—the latest, of course, how to pay for Katrina. Analysts project the cost for recovery efforts at nearly $200 billion. Thoughts naturally turn to cuts. Questioned if the Pentagon would have to cut programs to pay its share, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld opined, “There’s no point in speculating.” Of course, speculation already runs high that the Quadrennial Defense Review will be taking hefty cuts on its own.
More than 100 B-21s will be needed if the nation is to avoid creating a high demand/low capacity capability, panelists said on a Hudson Institute webinar. The B-21's flexibility, stealth, range and payload will be in high demand for a wide range of missions, both traditional and new.