The Aerospace Industries Association would like to see a new benchmark level of spending on military hardware, AIA president Marion Blakey said Wednesday. Addressing aviation and defense writers in Washington, D.C., Blakey said personnel costs now eat up such a large percentage of defense budgets that the old goal of spending four percent of GDP on the military is no longer meaningful in terms of industry health. The rule of thumb, she said, “should be 35 percent of defense spending” on procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation, which would be “a better indicator” of how well the Defense Department is addressing modernization. Blakey said the AIA is “concerned” that the need to reset forces returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with replacement equipment will cut into funding for development of new systems and potentially put US forces at a technological disadvantage in the future. She said the aerospace industry is holding its own as the chief US exporter of goods and services, but acknowledges there “no doubt” will be “tough sledding ahead” with defense budgets in the next few years.
New Air Force PT Uniforms to Hit Shelves in July
May 1, 2024
The Air Force’s new physical training uniforms have been a long time coming. The clothing set was first unveiled in 2021, with a promised 2022 debut. But supply chain issues delayed its arrival multiple times, according to the Air Force. But finally, Airmen are expected to be able to buy…