Air Force Secretary Michael Donley thinks there will be some serious rethinking of service expenditures in the coming years, especially if the Budget Control Act’s sequester mechanism takes effect. However, he said he doubts that any solution would involve the services taking a blanket meat cleaver-style uniform cut without consideration of strategy and goals. Speaking at AFA’s Global Warfare Symposium last week in Los Angeles, Donley said USAF missions, such as space, airlift, and global intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance, have proven that they have a lasting place, not just in Southwest Asia, but wherever the nation’s national security strategy is headed. “As we reconsider where the strategy is going, I think there is much more appreciation for the value of those capabilities that enable global operations,” he said Nov. 18.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.