Sustaining current levels of operations on any aircraft while simultaneously recapitalizing it is a big challenge, especially when it comes to the E-8 JSTARS ground-surveillance fleet, Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, Air National Guard director, told reporters Tuesday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. JSTARS is one of “the most highly demanded platforms” by combatant commanders, said Clarke. “They want JSTARS,” he explained. However, “it’s very difficult to sustain [the] current level of effort and move on to new airplanes at the same time,” he said. Financially, it’d be impossible, and Clarke believes the Air Force needs “to take a knee” and explain that “you’re not going to get all the capability you’ve had in the past year because at some point, we have to recapitalize the suite.”
Concerned about how artificial intelligence might be used to generate target lists or operational plans, lawmakers want to expand limits on autonomous weapons to address mission planning and target selection. The House Armed Services Committee's version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization bill would direct the Pentagon to revise Defense…