The Air Force hasn’t dedicated any of its scarce funding to upgrading the radar and other onboard systems for its fleet of E-8C Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System aircraft, says Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. And, that asserts the long-time defense analyst puts in jeopardy the ability of fighter aircraft “to find the enemy.” The Air Force acknowledged earlier this year that it had pushed development of the new radar destined for the now-dead E-10 radar aircraft as far as its 2007 fiscal resource would permit, and it had no wiggle room in its 2008 budget. Thompson has a point that something is off, but we think it’s the topline.
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.