They Have a Dream
F-16s are still something that our pilots dream about. F-16s are a global symbol of aviation might and force. … We really hope that our pilots will be able to fly some of them to protect our country and show the world that Ukraine is a modern Army capable of protecting the whole of Europe.Yuriy Sak, adviser to Ukraine’s minister of defense, in a phone interview from Kyiv with Air Force Magazine.
One Team, One Fight
Not too long ago we were celebrating 75 years of peace in Europe, and now we have war in Europe. We have war at the eastern edges of the alliance, and I think it’s upon all of us to be able to counter future threats as one fighting force.
Dutch Maj. Gen. Andre Steur after the U.S., Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, and the United Kingdom agreed to jointly invest in Next-Generation Rotocraft Capability
[Defense News, July 20].
Deep Space
Today, we present humanity with a groundbreaking new view of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope—a view the world has never seen before. … Webb will help to uncover the answers to questions we don’t even yet know to ask; questions that will help us better understand our universe and humanity’s place within it.NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
[July 12].
Dollars And Sense
In purchasing power parity, [China] spend about $1 to our $20 to get to the same capability. … We are going to lose if we can’t figure out how to drop the cost and increase the speed in our defense supply chains. … In this environment today, it is absolutely going to kill us.USAF Maj. Gen. Cameron G. Holt, deputy assistant secretary to the Air Force for contracting, at a federal contractor event, quoted in The War Zone.
Land Grab?
Decency is not a weakness we always have. To answer America, let it always remember there’s a piece of territory, Alaska. When they try to manage our resources abroad, let them think before they act that we, too, have something to take back.”Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the Russian State Duma (parliament), speaking to lawmakers about possible Russian responses to U.S. sanctions [July 6].
Sooner Or Later
There is a lot of attention being paid [to how China views the war in Ukraine]. And one school of thought is that the lesson is ‘Go early and go strong,’ before there is time to strengthen Taiwan’s defenses. We may be heading to an earlier confrontation —more a squeeze than an invasion—than we thought.Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), in an interview with The New York Times.
Ante Up
I’m always reluctant to put a whole lot of chips in the middle of the table … and the NGAD seems like a whole lot of chips going in the middle of the table … maybe you’ve got to do it. Maybe it’s a technology that, if somebody else gets there first, and you haven’t gotten there, then you’re in a really bad place.Rep. Adam Smith, Chair, House Armed Services Committee, Defense Writers Group, commenting on the Next-Generation Air Dominance system
[June 15].