CMSAF Rodney J. McKinley, the Air Force’s top enlisted man, told Air Force Magazine, that the service must advance its planned cut of 40,000 personnel to free up dollars earlier to pay for things like fuel. “We can’t afford to stretch this out,” he said. USAF officials also wanted to position the force to be ready to meet whatever circumstances may confront it in three to four years, he added. “We are not going to get this 100 percent right—but we will learn from the mistakes to become more capable.” McKinley emphasized that the force is not simply getting smaller, but more capable as well.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.