Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is taking exception to the Pentagon premise that fielding a new long-range strike platform sooner is more preferable to upgrading the B-2 stealth bomber. At a House hearing on Wednesday, Skelton said, “In my view, a great deal of new capability can be achieved by continuing to modernize our most advanced bomber, the B-2.” He did admit that the B-2 might not fill all requirements “contemplated in the QDR” but maintained it could “satisfy a large percentage of those requirements.”
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.