So reporters kept pressing Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff David Goldfein for answers to the reasonable question: How will the Air Force afford 74 more squadrons with all the people, planes, satellites, and infrastructure needed to make them useful?

CAPITOL HILL: The B-21 will be America’s next bomber and the Air Force says it will be “optionally manned.” That’s fine, say some of America’s most experienced B-2 pilots. Just keep the pilots. You’ll want them for those rare moments when everything goes wrong and a human being needs to take the controls and make… Keep reading →

 AFA: For the foreseeable future, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told me today, when push comes to shove, personnel funding should win and modernization must wait. “If you’re asking me if I have to choose between the two, then I vote for people,” she said. “I’m going to protect people.” Of course, the Air… Keep reading →

CORRECTED: Attribution of Air Force Buying New Advanced Fighter NATIONAL HARBOR: The Air Force’s new bomber, the B-21 Raider, should come in almost $40 million below the official $550 million a copy official estimate, says Randall Walden, director of the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office. So, $511 million is the new $550 million. After his… Keep reading →

The classified costs of the B-21 bomber should remain secret because revealing the figure would be “too insightful for the adversaries to get a sense of what they can do (and) what the U.S. can do in building that next generation bomber,” the official in charge of the program said Tuesday. The bomber’s Engineering and Manufacturing… Keep reading →

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) has placed language in the 1,600 pages of its draft of the National Defense Authorization Act that would fundamentally alter how standard acquisition policies apply to the Air Force’s B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber. The Air Force has meticulously followed all of the rules and regulations mandated by Congress… Keep reading →

The 21st century is defined by connectivity, from our iPhones to the networks that power our economy. The US military is not immune to this. Either it seizes opportunities presented by the information age, or risks precipitating problems if it retreats into anachronistic paradigms. Well into the late 20th century, combat power was largely measured… Keep reading →

The modernization of America’s nuclear weapons looms as one of the largest and most crucial set of strategic and spending decisions the American military faces over the next decade. A crucial element in this discussion is how does America best prove it can deliver these weapons — without annihilating certain portions of our globe —… Keep reading →

The Air Force’s new B-21 long range strike bomber acquisition program has encountered turbulence in recent weeks as Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, declared: “I will not authorize a program that has a cost-plus contract.” Justifying his position, the senator referenced his smart phone, explaining that: “Silicon Valley built the latest… Keep reading →

  Bob Hale knows budgets. He crafted them for the Air Force and he crafted them for the entire Defense Department. America faces a large spending spike by 2025 that grows even larger later. So, how can America manage this spending? Bob presents three approaches he thinks will work. Don’t get too depressed and read… Keep reading →