The Air Force risks losing its superiority and a future conflict if change does not begin immediately, from how it buys and evaluates weapons to how it trains and deploys Airmen, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. writes in his first directive to ...
Capitol Hill
House and Senate lawmakers are headed into conference for the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill after both chambers passed their respective legislation this week. Senators voted 86-14 to approve their version of the National Defense Authorization Act on July 23. The House voted 295-125 to ...
Starting this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings using only written questions and answers, while the new coronavirus keeps the panel from convening as usual. In a delayed process dubbed “paper hearings,” SASC will post the opening statements from Chairman Sen. Jim ...
Air Combat Command is shifting from a "fighter roadmap" to a "capabilities" roadmap that will capture many of the things fighters do today, but likely with new types of unmanned systems and "attritable" aircraft, Gen. Mike Holmes told reporters Feb. 27. The idea of a ...
Heading into budget negotiation season, the three civilian heads of the armed forces outlined their looming struggles with Capitol Hill at a Feb. 21 Center for Strategic and International Studies panel. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said it’s harder to convince lawmakers of the merits ...
Greater transparency about space budgets is needed to normalize Space Force as the sixth military service, the Pentagon's space policy chief said Feb. 6. “We … need to lower the classification of what we’re doing,” Stephen Kitay told an AFA Mitchell Institute audience on Capitol ...
The End of Nuclear “Kick the Can”
The Pentagon’s review of its force structure in Africa, and the likely reduction of deployed personnel, is already meeting harsh pushback on Capitol Hill, even before the review is completed. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has ordered a “zero-based” review of US forces deployed globally, with ...