Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a letter to BRAC commission chairman Anthony Principi, blasted the commission on its decision to consider bringing back to life Cecil Field in Florida, as a replacement for Virginia’s NAS Oceana, which the Pentagon has proposed to close. Warner said such a move would be illegal. The Navy closed Cecil in 1999, sending most of its aircraft to Oceana.
The new F-15E and F-15EX electronic warfare suite, meant to protect the fourth-generation fighters in contested battlespace—was shown to be “operationally effective” and “suitable,” the Pentagon's Director of Operational Test and Evaluation said.