The Air Force’s budget proposal for the Space Radar is 50 percent of what the service thinks the funding level should be. “We think [the intelligence community] should put up the other 50 percent,” said Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of Air Force Space Command. In a press conference Sept. 26, Chilton said he expects there will be “a healthy debate this fall” about the proposed arrangement, but since the system would serve all the intel agencies, Air Force sees no reason to go it alone. Chilton said: “Space Radar ought to be a joint program. … I see it logically as being a team effort” with the intel community. Such a cost sharing scheme is not unprecedented; the National Polar-orbiting Environmental Satellite System is funded in a 50-50 deal with USAF and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Agency.
Air Force Chief of Staff nominee Gen. Henneth Wilsbach said he'll give special attention to coordinating with the Navy on buys of new weapons like the Joint Advanced Tactical Missile.
