Overnight,
the House Armed Services Committee voted to add another 12 aircraft to the F-22 inventory. In its markup of the Fiscal 2010 budget request, the House defense authorizers inserted $369 million for advance procurement of items and materials needed for one dozen aircraft. These additional aircraft would be authorized in Fiscal 2011. The new aircraft—plus four that were to be bought in 2010—raises the total fleet to 199 fighters. Last fall, Congress directed the Pentagon to buy 20 additional F-22s in 2010, but top Pentagon leaders felt they weren’t really obliged to buy more than four. The F-22 language came from the committee’s Air and Land Forces panel chaired by Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii). In recent weeks, Abercrombie had challenged Air Force leaders for going along with DOD-directed reductions in USAF combat fighter programs and forces. (Armed Services Committee mark up summary). The 199 fighters still dips well below the 381 F-22s that the Air Force has always claimed it needs, and far short even of the 243 fighters set as the new military requirement by the USAF Chief of Staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz.
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
