The Air Force is embarking on a new global partnership strategy that it says will be a more expansive and improved means of building relationships, interoperable capabilities, and partnership capacity with international friends and allies. The new plan will replace USAF’s current security cooperation strategy, Bruce S. Lemkin, the Air Force’s deputy under secretary for International Affairs, said in a May 13 statement. It will incorporate elements of irregular warfare, security force assistance (formerly train, test, and assist activities), and building partnership capacity portfolios, in addition to the traditional counter-insurgency, foreign internal defense, security cooperation, security assistance, and international military education and training aspects of the former plan, he said. Lemkin’s office will host the first meeting of the global partnership strategy working group May 19 to 22 in Crystal City, Va., to discuss building global partnerships with representatives from across the service.
Multiple B-21s are undergoing ground tests and being prepared to join the two aircraft now in test flight, and the Northrop Grumman is negotiating with the Air Force about how expanded production for the bomber could be accomplished, president and CEO Kathy Warden said Oct. 21. She also suggested a…