Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said on Tuesday he wants Air Force input at the Office of Strategic Land Policy that the land service is setting up with the Marine Corps and US Special Operations Command to think about the future of land warfare in the era of anti access/area denial. Just not yet. “Obviously, we want their thoughts and expertise on what they do,” Odierno told defense reporters in Washington, D.C., on May 7. “The Army can’t do anything without the Air Force. Whether it be lift, whether it be close air support, we are inextricably linked to the Air Force, so they will have people there as we work through this,” he said. Asked if the Air Force has been invited to participate in the discussion so far, however, Odierno said, “Right now, not.” For now, he said, the charter members are trying to think through “the human domain in the dimension of conflict” in the post-Afghanistan era. The terms of reference for the office concentrate on “what we think the land power of the future” is going to be, said Odierno. Asked after his media roundtable if this is simply the Army/Marine/SOCOM counterweight to the Air Force-Navy AirSea Battle approach, he said, “No, it’s not that. I know some people think it is, but it isn’t.”
A new Navy missile could fill a range gap that the U.S. Air Force needs for its fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at…