According to defense analyst Jeremiah Gertler, now with the Aerospace Industries Association, the Air Force isn’t just communicating its priorities poorly, it doesn’t put its money where its mouth is. He told a Heritage Foundation seminar this week that the service claims the KC-X tanker is a major procurement priority, but the budget documents don’t “necessarily” support that claim. Gertler also argues that if USAF wins its bid to become executive agent for higher flying unmanned aerial vehicles, the service must establish clear budget priorities verbally as well as on paper. “The two are often at odds,” he said.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.