Although Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he’s only postponed the Air Force’s next-generation bomber, it is “zeroed out” for 2010, deputy Air Force budget director Patricia Zarodkiewicz told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Thursday. No placeholder money is in the procurement or R&D budgets. Gates has said he wants more clarity on the NGB program—a position criticized by some defense analysts and lawmakers, who cite the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review and a decade of study. As recently as last year, the Next Generation Bomber was expected to be a $5 billion R&D effort. The budget does contain $500 million to continue upgrading and operating the existing bomber fleet, mainly with new radars and communications gear. There’s another $173 million to keep 76 B-52s available as nuclear platforms. However, USAF officials could not immediately say whether there’s any money for upgrade, service life extension, or replacement of the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile or AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile, which only the B-52 carries and without which it has no nuclear mission. The Air Force announced a heavy drawdown of both missile inventories two years ago.
Planning an Air Show Is Hard. At Andrews, It’s Even Harder
Sept. 17, 2025
Joint Base Andrews opened its flightline this month to thousands of civilians, exposing a normally restricted airbase that regularly hosts the president and foreign dignitaries to a curious public eager to see current and historic military aircraft up close and in action.
