Air Combat Command has done “everything we can” to support higher-ups as they decide upon the characteristics of the Air Force’s next long-range strike platform, ACC chief Gen. William Fraser said Tuesday. ACC’s role has been “working with the combatant commanders to understand what their requirements are,” Fraser told attendees during his Air Force Association-sponsored Air Force Breakfast Series presentation in Arlington, Va. He continued, “Then we have been engaged in a number of meetings and discussions at the Pentagon,” working with various offices to explain those regional commanders’ needs. Fraser declined to predict what will be decided, but said that he has not had an opportunity to make a pitch to Defense Secretary Robert Gates personally. Fraser said he “believes in the need” for a new long-range strike platform.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.