Among the top awards presented during this week’s annual AFA Air & Space Conference in Washington was the H.H. Arnold Award, presented to Air Combat Command boss Gen. Ron Keys, who is retiring this fall, for the most significant contribution by a military member to national defense. The W. Stuart Symington Award went to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne for the most significant contribution in the field of national defense by an Air Force civilian. Lockheed Martin and Boeing garnered the John R. Alison Award, presented for industrial leadership in national defense, for their development of the Atlas V and Delta IV, respectively, and other launchers.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.