The Air Force saw an uptick in its share of the 2016 defense budget, relative to the other services, and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said that was due to two things. In an interview with Air Force Magazine just after the budget was submitted to Congress last week, Welsh said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel stepped “into the nuclear issue and (is) taking, in my view, a pretty strong view that we needed to get serious about investment, over time” in nuclear forces. Also, Welsh observed, Hagel and President Obama “said ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) is a critical resource” in America’s current fights. “It has become the coin of the realm (and) the Air Force provides quite a bit of it … And so, I think all of those things helped in terms of a plus-up to the budget,” Welsh said. He cautioned, though, that it’s all pipe dreams if the sequester goes back in force in ’16. “If we drop to the Budget Control Act caps … a lot of that money goes away,” he noted.
Has China’s Secret H-20 Stealth Bomber Broken Cover?
Jan. 6, 2025
China may be flying its new H-20 stealth bomber, possibly seen in new imagery circulating on Chinese social media. If the imagery is authentic, the aircraft is not the expected flying wing but has large tail control surfaces.