Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said his biggest challenge for the balance of his tenure will be managing all the new missions the service must take on with a fixed number of people. Remotely Piloted Aircraft are a key example: USAF is bringing on the uninhabited craft at a brisk rate, but he declared: “We need 140 folks per platform to launch and operate them. … We cannot sustain this package indefinitely.” He said the service would seek greater automation in all phases of RPA operations so that far fewer people can operate the same or more aircraft.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
