Air Force Space Command officials acknowledged Wednesday that the recent Nuclear Surety Inspection of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., had found “deficiencies in several areas,” reports Associated Press news service. Capt. Sharbe Clark, an AFSPC spokesman, said the news did not forecast a wing leadership change. Clark told AP, “They have the knowledge and skills to correct whatever areas that had the deficiencies in it.” Defense Secretary Robert Gates ousted the Air Force’s two top leaders earlier this year over repeated high-profile nuclear enterprise incidents. Since then the Air Force’s new leadership has begun an effort to reinvigorate the service’s nuclear enterprise, launching a new nuclear roadmap late last month. The Malmstrom wing can expect a repeat inspection within 90 days.
The F-47 fighter will be run differently than previous fighter programs and share the same mission systems architecture as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. That means advances in one will fuel advances in the other.