Air
Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said last week that, although the combat search and rescue replacement vehicle program was canceled, “we didn’t cancel a mission.” Speaking at a National Aeronautic Association-sponsored event April 16 in Washington, D.C., Schwartz said, “there is no doubt in my mind—none—about the need for a vertical-lift capability which can bring Americans and our friends home from denied space.” But, how this will be accomplished, whether jointly, or by each service independently, is a matter for discussion in upcoming defense reviews, he said. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates axed the CSAR-X program, saying it was shaping up misguidedly as a single-service platform for a joint mission. (See below, “Roles and Mission Shift?”)
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
