Congress needs to come up with a 10-year strategy that works toward balancing the budget and reducing the deficit, while protecting America’s national security interests, said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) Thursday. In other words, it needs to figure out how to do more with less and identify the missions that it wants US troops to conduct, said Smith, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, during a speech Thursday at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. “Whatever we decide is the mission, we have to fund it,” he asserted. “We need to decide what we can afford, what’s in the best interest of our national security, and then fund it so our troops have the equipment and resources to do what we ask them to do.” (AEI webpage of event, including event video)
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.