Gen. Paul Hester, head of Pacific Air Forces, said PACAF was “surprised by the speed” at which China brought its new J-10 fighter from development to squadron service. “It was a little faster than we predicted,” he admitted during AFA’s Orlando symposium, but he said the new fighters don’t pose a particularly thorny problem for PACAF, even though the J-10 can refuel in the air and carry an F-16-like weapon payload. Hester diplomatically said, “It will be a fine aircraft for them.”
Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned that Russia would remain an enduring threat to NATO and global security, regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine.