Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday he is committed to seeing that the US military has “an airborne, long-range strike capability,” a prospective B-3 bomber, if you will. Speaking at AFA’s Air & Space Conference, Gates said, however, the Pentagon must not repeat the mistakes of the B-2 bomber program in acquiring this new capability, be it a manned aircraft, unmanned platform, or some combination of both. The B-2, Gates said, “despite its great capability, turned out to be so expensive” that the nation could only afford a fraction of the original number. The small fleet size—today there are 20 B-2s—makes the loss of even one B-2 potentially “a national disaster akin to the sinking of a capital ship” since it would lessen the nation’s strategic options, he said. “It makes little sense to procure a future bomber … in a way that repeats this history,” he emphasized. Instead it’s imperative to pursue a capability that “can realistically be produced and deployed in the numbers originally envisioned,” thus placing a premium on meeting schedules, controlling costs, and bringing requirements “into line with reality,” Gates said.
AFA Inaugurates New Headquarters with Doolittle Raider Toast
April 17, 2025
The Air and Space Forces Association celebrated the grand opening of its new Operations Center on April 17 with a tribute to its founder, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle—the Doolittle Raiders Memorial Toast.