Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told Rebecca Christie of Dow Jones Newswires that DOD is not moving quickly enough with a new bomber program. He worries that unless the Air Force can get the effort out of the conceptual stage soon, there will be no way to meet the 2020 deadline imposed by the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review. (Read our review of the options under study here.)
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.