Colorado Springs, Colo.—The Air Force’s light attack aircraft experiment scheduled for this summer at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will be about clarifying capabilities, not selecting sources, Air Force Materiel Command boss Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski said at a press briefing at the 33rd Space Symposium here Thursday. “It’s not specific, it’s not a down select, it’s not a lead into a program of record. It’s purely to collect the right data to help us make that decision,” she said. The Air Force is particularly interested in how a light attack aircraft can interact with the fifth-generation capabilities of the F-22 and F-35. The experiment is aimed at helping the Air Force understand the “feasibility” of “a high/low mix, you know, of a combination of aircraft,” Pawlikowski said. “We’re trying to get good data to make sure we understand what a light attack type of capability will provide to our abilities in air superiority and supporting ground operations.”
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3