Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday laid down the same line in the sand as he did on Monday at the Pentagon and on Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, telling House lawmakers that he would “strongly recommend” that President Obama veto any Fiscal 2011 legislation that sustains the F136 engine for the F-35 strike fighter. Appearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Gates said the focus should be on getting the F135, the other engine type for the F-35, done right. Keeping the F136 engine program alive for the next five fiscal years would end up costing the Defense Department another $2.9 billion that is needed elsewhere on top of the $1.8 billion that the Congress has already pumped into the project in the past several years over the Pentagon’s objections, he said. The Pentagon’s Fiscal 2011 budget proposal seeks to cancel the F136.
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…
