The Pentagon formally announced the Fiscal 2010 defense budget proposal with a round of briefings that began early Thursday afternoon. The Administration is asking for $533.8 billion in budget authority for base defense programs and another $130 billion to support ongoing overseas contingency operations. According to a Pentagon release, the budget reflects a 2.1 percent inflation-adjusted increase over the 2009 enacted budget of $513.3 billion. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on April 6 already had announced major weapons systems cuts, including a proposal to end F-22 Raptor production at 187 aircraft, which would leave USAF with 186 Raptors. (DOD 2010 budget overview; DOD 2010 budget summary charts) (More budget coverage ahead.)

There’s talk of creating a new sub-command within US Strategic Command to oversee the operations of the military’s unclassified and secure computer networks, Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, STRATCOM’s command, confirmed to defense reporters Thursday in Washington, D.C. This new...

The 2010 budget proposal announced last month by Defense Secretary Robert Gates carry enormous risks for air superiority, erroneously assuming the F-35 can fill the capability gap left by termination of the F-22 program at 186 aircraft, so said defense...

House defense appropriators have added $2.2. billion to the Obama Administration’s $75.5 billion war supplemental to buy eight C-17s and $904 million to buy 11 C-130Js, according to documents issued earlier this week by Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of...

The method Defense Secretary Robert Gates used to identify major weapons program cuts “makes a mockery” of the process used to build defense budgets since the end of the Cold War, a panel of defense experts and former senior Air...

That is the way Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) views the proposed cuts announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on April 6 when, among other significant changes to military weapons programs, he said the Next-Generation Bomber should be put on hold...

Gen. Robert Kehler, head of Air Force Space Command, believes topics ripe for debate during the just-commenced Quadrennial Defense Review include the need for “protecting our assets” in space and “how aggressively” the Air Force will be allowed to do...

Air Force Space Command boss Gen. Robert Kehler said he sees room for a wide debate over space “responsibilities” within the broader defense and Intelligence Community in the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review. However, during a Wednesday National Space Foundation event...

The arrival of the new Administration brings with it the opportunity for a top-down assessment of national security strategy, including a comprehensive look at the role of nuclear weapons, the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States...

The Defense Department’s mobility capability requirements study isn’t due for release until around December, but the Institute for Defense Analysis’ Congressionally mandated study of fixed-wing intra- and inter-theater airlift was issued to Congress in mid March. Some information from IDA’s...

The Air Force’s 30th Space Wing, working with the Missile Defense Agency, NASA, and industry, successfully placed an experimental missile-tracking satellite in orbit Tuesday aboard a Delta II rocket launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The space tracking and surveillance system...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaMay 3, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 16 14 30 4,850 CAS/Armed Recon 25 65 90 12,041 Airlift 140 140 16,624 Air refueling 48 48 5,425 Total 308 38,940...