“I would hope we’ll see some decisions about how to move out soon” on the long range strike system, Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter said Wednesday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference. He called the LRS a “complex mosaic of electronic attack, ISR, strike, stand-in, standoff, manned, unmanned [capabilities]” requiring a lot of work in cost tradeoffs that is going on department-wide. “In so many places in the department, we’ve lost the knack for doing that. Not in the Air Force, in connection with this project. And that’s the work that [Defense Secretary Robert Gates] deserves to see before he makes decisions on that.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…

