Air Force officials are closely watching the Navy to see how its Sea-Based Deterrence Fund plays out, in the hopes that they could use a similar program to finance much-needed upgrades to the ICBM force, said Air Force Global Strike Command boss Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson. “We’re looking to see how we can do something like that,” Wilson told reporters during a Tuesday meeting in Washington, D.C. “We think we need a sustained commitment in both resources and attention of focus across a period of years going forward.” The Air Force has a “great relationship” with the Navy, said Wilson. He said he meets regularly with senior nuclear leaders across the Defense Department as part of the Pentagon’s nuclear deterrent enterprise review group, which Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work leads. Congress recently created the special fund for the Navy as a means to pay for its next generation nuclear submarine force, while it also works to build its overall fleet back up to 300, reported Military.com. (See also CBO Estimates Costs of Nuclear Forces.)
A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 suffered an engine failure flying over Africa in May 2023, forcing the drone’s pilot to down it in the ocean where it was not recovered, according to a new Air Force report. The cost of the mishap was more than $21 million.