Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, sees the continuation of the C-130J for a wide variety of missions as diverse as weather reconnaissance and gunship, rather than spending money to develop a new capability when research and development dollars are scarce. “We need to take advantage of these platforms where we can go get economies of scale,” Schwartz said in an interview. “We had a period of time where money was readily available, and that time is rapidly coming to a close.”
Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China confirmed it is halting its nuclear arms control talks with the U.S., in retaliation for the U.S. continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. The move reinforces a “pattern of behavior” from Beijing, experts say.