The Senate Appropriations Committee last week included language in its defense bill markup urging the Air Force to start work toward an exportable version of the F-22, but Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz Sept. 15 at AFA’s Air & Space Conference said he doesn’t see the value in such an effort. “I personally don’t see that as the best use of our acquisition talent,” he said. The Air Force will certainly take the language seriously and talk with the Senate to fully understand “their intent,” but Schwartz noted that the language is a recommendation, not the law.
In a pair of major contracts announced July 31, the Pentagon awarded a combined $7.8 billion for new missiles, including JASSM and AMRAAM.
