The US military’s rebalance to the Pacific is taking shape through modernization, both in building up the footprint in allied nations and the deployment of the country’s newest military hardware, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said. “We are enhancing America’s force posture throughout this vitally important region to continue playing a pivotal role from the sea, in the air, and under the water, as well as to make our posture more geographically distributed, operationally resilient, and politically sustainable,” Carter said during an April 8 speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. The rebalance includes sending the military’s newest F-35 and F-22 jets through bases in the Pacific, along with continued deployments of B-2s and B-52s and Navy P-8 surveillance aircraft. “And all the while, we’re bringing America’s regional force posture in to the 21st century, by rotating American personnel into new and more places, like northern Australia and new sites in the Philippines, and modernizing our existing footprint in Japan and the Republic of Korea,” Carter said. (See also: Don’t Call it a Comeback)
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design the Air Force said.