The Air Force expects that the 17 B-1B bombers it's asked to retire will be the last until the type "shakes hands" with its replacement, the B-21, early in the 2030s, Lt. Gen. David Nahom, USAF's top planner, said April 16. The B-1 will get improvements and more maintainers per jet to make it more lethal and available for duty, but USAF will stay flexible in case the B-21, soon to enter testing, is delayed, Nahom reported. Production of the B-21 will be "accelerated" after it finishes testing, he added.

The Air Force’s steps to reduce class size in basic military training and put in place distancing measures have limited the outbreak of the new coronavirus. However, the impact of these measures will be felt for years. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, in an interview with Air Force Magazine, credited Air Education and Training Command for “thinking creatively” on how to address the COVID-19 situation, and though he said the current plan can be sustained "for a significant amount of time," there will be long-term impacts. “There will be some numbers that will, quite frankly, take years to get back because I don’t know, until we have a vaccine, what the backside of this looks like,” Goldfein said. “What we’ll actually return to, I predict, is not a return to normal. It will be a return to a new abnormal, and that will be operating with the virus.”

Air Force acquisition boss Will Roper is seeking more congressional help for the defense industrial base as companies find their new business rhythm in the coronavirus era. “We’re transitioning into the new steady state. The number of new discoveries is going down and that’s good,” Roper told reporters April 16. “It’s allowing our workforce to get a more predictable posture, work ahead of issues we predict will happen.” Roper struck an optimistic note that the Air Force’s procurement priorities and its contractors can make it through the crisis. He is discussing a four-part wish list with Capitol Hill to assist in those efforts.

The effort to replace Air Force One is moving along smoothly despite the new coronavirus, and has essentially completed a key design milestone, USAF acquisition boss Will Roper said April 16. Program officials held the critical design review online rather than coming together in person during the pandemic, a practice that Roper touted as an easy and efficient model for the future. As commercial air travel grinds to a halt due to stay-at-home orders across the country, Roper indicated VC-25B manufacturer Boeing is repurposing that workforce to handle commercial-derivative programs like the new Air Force One, which is based on the 747-8. He doesn’t expect the pandemic will delay the development and production of the two jets.

U.S. forces in Europe continue to meet key missions, including air policing and an enhanced forward presence for deterrence, even as major exercises are downsized or outright canceled, the head of U.S. European Command said. USAF Gen. Tod Wolters, EUCOM boss and NATO Supreme Allied Commander-Europe, told reporters that these critical U.S. and NATO missions remain on track despite the impacts of the new coronavirus outbreak. “We’re working very, very hard to squeeze as much as we can out of what we have available, but we have preserved all of the operational missions," Wolters said.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.