Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF’s intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance guru, has responded to a New York Times article that apparently intimated that USAF wants to “control the deployment of unmanned airplanes,” explaining—as he is doing a lot lately—that the Air Force simply believes it can control costs, end pointless duplication, and improve joint operations by becoming executive agent for unmanned aerial vehicle acquisition. And, Deptula writes that the issue of operational control is separate from that of executive agent and should be handled jointly to distribute intel more widely on the battle area—ground, sea, or air. (Here’s a link to an abstract of the original NYT article; it will cost you to read it now.)
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.