Various news reports proclaim that an internal memo from Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England to the military services direct them to deliver proposals to cut weapons acquisition programs. The target is $32 billion across 2007-11. And that may not be the end figure. It is already more than last year’s shocker—program budget decision 753—which directed a cut of $30 billion. PBD 753 was the document that canceled the C-130J and reduced the buy of F/A-22 Raptors.
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.