Pentagon acquisition guru Ken Krieg has asked the Defense Science Board to form a task force to examine DOD’s energy strategy—everything from operational and strategic constraints inherent in aerial tanking to the high cost of delivering energy to the battlefield and the potential implications of disruptions to energy flow. The infrastructure required to transport and distribute energy to the battlefield is “extremely costly” and diverts resources from combat capabilities, Krieg cautioned. Among the DSB’s tasks, identify ways to reduce demand, identify the possibilities of DOD producing energy, and assess how a proposed new energy strategy would impact DOD’s global realignment.
The F-47 fighter will be run differently than previous fighter programs and share the same mission systems architecture as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. That means advances in one will fuel advances in the other.