Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said Friday the service will start closing down the U-2 depot support capability soon, and that the venerable surveillance aircraft may depart the inventory circa 2015. USAF officials “adjusted” that date to account for the fact that the service has “truncated” its buy of RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 40 aircraft from 22 to 11 aircraft, he told reporters at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
