Air Frame: Year in Review, January 2011: Video and still images appeared on the Internet on Jan. 11, 2011, of China’s J-20 stealthy looking combat aircraft, shown here, making its maiden flight. That was the same day on which then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Beijing on his official visit to China. Also in January, Gates announced that the Air Force would shed nearly $34 billion over the next five fiscal years as part of the Defense Department’s overall effort to cut $100 billion in overhead. Also, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley acknowledged that changes to the F-35 strike fighter’s development schedule would likely mean that the service’s first operational F-35A unit would not be ready for combat until late 2016 or beyond. Photo via Internet
The Pentagon is making progress developing a new target round for test the effectiveness of U.S. missile defenses. Contractor Northrop Grumman announced the first flight of a redesigned vehicle Jan. 8.
