Despite grave
concerns being expressed about impending budget cuts, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz urged attendees at the Air Force Association’s Air & Space Conference at National Harbor, Md., near Washington, D.C., not to be too downbeat. “This is not a time to despair,” he said at Wednesday’s Four-Star Forum. “We’re still going to be a $100 billion Air Force and we can do a hell of a lot with that,” declared Schwartz, who has served as USAF’s top uniformed official since August 2008.
Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…