Apparently, the Air Force’s years of vetting the need for 381 F-22 fighters had little or no impact on the QDR process. Ryan Henry, the Pentagon’s QDR point man, told defense reporters today that he doesn’t know why the Air...

The F-22 program got slashed in a late-2004 budget decision, said Ryan Henry, whose title is Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and it was “an extremely rough cut,” since DOD had been given just two weeks to...

Henry said that the QDR’s “hundreds of hours” of meetings among the top leaders in the services, the DOD and the field commanders led to “a lot of group learning … at the four-star level.” Rather than “being protectors of...

The 2005 QDR calls on the Air Force to increase its long-range strike capabilities “by 50 percent, and the penetrating component of long-range strike by a factor of five by 2025.” When asked to explain this figure—and whether it means...

The whole reason for extending the F-22 production line by two years is to “bridge” to F-35 production—to keep a warm fifth-generation fighter line going, said Lt. Gen. Stephen Wood, deputy chief of staff for plans and programs. Given the...

Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes, USAF’s budget director, confirmed that the 2007 defense budget proposal permits USAF to squeeze out four more F-22A fighters—for a total of 183 fighters—and extend deliveries through 2012 until F-35s start rolling out, as General Wood...

USAF is “comfortable” with the decision to terminate the F136 alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, said Lt. Gen. Stephen Wood. Modern engines are so reliable that the Air Force doesn’t feel an alternate is a compelling...

USAF budget director Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes said that even though the Air Force may get a small budget increase ($105.9 billion in 2007 vs. $105.5 billion enacted for 2006), it doesn’t cover the real costs of keeping the force...

In 2005, the average age of Air Force aircraft is up to 23.5 years, Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes noted. B-52s and KC-135s are all over 42 years old. USAF is stemming the march of years somewhat by using leaner, smarter...

USAF plans to end C-17 production in fiscal 2007, at the 180th airplane, and to wrap up the C-130J in fiscal 2008, at the 79th aircraft. The new budget proposal includes $2.9 billion to cover the last C-17 and shut...

Responding to a reporter who asked whether the Air Force was gambling that Congress would add more C-17 airlifters, Lt. Gen. Stephen Wood insisted that Air Force leaders ”don’t play politics.” He maintained that gambling isn’t a healthy way to...

The Air Force will shed 50 of its Minuteman ICBMs as a result of the QDR. The Air Force explanation, from General Wood, they are “excess to our strategic needs.” He pointedly refused to discuss whether they would be converted...

The Air Force has not technically given up on the E-10 aircraft as a replacement for both the E-3 AWACS and the E-8 Joint STARS, according to Lt. Gen. Stephen Wood. Wood says that the E-10 is in a “strategic...

According to Tom Cassidy, head of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the Air Force has 14 of the company’s MQ-9 Predator B unmanned aerial vehicles under contract. Cassidy told us at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium last week that GAAS could accelerate...

The Gallup Poll decided it was a good time—with the defense budget and QDR release imminent—to find out what Americans think of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The poll, released Tuesday, found that the country is fairly evenly split—showing 44 percent...

Speaking at the 42nd Annual Munich Conference on Security Policy last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told world leaders that terrorists “are on the defensive” but added that it will take a concerted effort by all nations to “succeed in...

Personnel at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., are slated to move into renovated space, beginning in March. Officials told the Torrance (Calif.) Daily Breeze that it’s the first such remodeling since the 1950s and makes...

Boeing officials say the company has successfully completed several major milestones for the Global Positioning System IIF program. Among the milestones was completion of the first satellite’s initial electromagnetic compatibility and interference testing, which ensured the SV-1 satellite could be...

Sikorsky Aircraft has teamed with Rockwell Collins to support its entry into the CSAR-X competition. Sikorsky is offering its HH-92 helicopter to replace the Air Force Special Operations Command HH-60 helicopters. Now, it has lined up Rockwell Collins to offer...

Air Force Research Lab techies are working on the Cross dispersion Prism sensor, which officials say is a “passive staring electro-optical infrared sensor that allows for continuous surveillance of an area.” Its use: Detect, locate, identify, and classify “energetic events,”...

Boeing is ready to integrate key subsystems into the Navy’s EA-18G Growler aircraft, which, as of right now, is the only electronic jamming aircraft on the horizon. The Navy plans to retire the joint USAF-Navy use EA-6B Prowler and USAF...

February 6, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 12 4 – 16 CAS/Armed Recon 52 18 – 70 Airlift – – 175 175 Air refueling – – 32 32 Total 64 22 207 293 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...