The Department of the Air Force’s plans to “reoptimize for great power competition” have gotten a skeptical reception in Congress, as lawmakers are asking for more information before any changes go into effect and asking for an audit of the decision-making process.
Budget
The Air Force will extend development of the AGM-181A Long-Range Stand-Off missile by a year, possibly to comply with budget reductions from the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
The Space Force is expanding the scope of its upcoming mission to launch a satellite on 24 hours’ notice—and hopes to declare initial operational capability for the effort, dubbed “Tactically Responsive Space,” in fiscal 2025.
New recommendations arguing for more Pentagon flexibility to reprogram funds are a “terrible” idea, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said, arguing that the overrun on the Sentinel ICBM proves the Pentagon can’t be trusted with such authority.
America’s Pacific forces want more missiles—and a lot of them—according to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s wish list for fiscal 2025. A standout of INDOPACOM’s unfunded priorities list—items not contained in the budget—is the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), an advanced standoff munition being developed for the Air ...
The Space Force’s strategy for leveraging commercial space is coming “within the next month” and will include details on the service’s program for tapping into those capabilities during a conflict, Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein said March 20.
Advances by both Russia and China with hypersonic weapons have the U.S. Air Force general in charge of homeland defense seriously concerned about how to detect and defend against the threat—and the new 2025 budget request is pushing hundreds of millions of dollars toward the ...
Budget documents indicate U.S. Special Operations Command is cutting back on its plans for Armed Overwatch, the rugged, lightweight, fixed-wing aircraft to support counterterrorism efforts in permissive airspace. According to SOCOM’s 2025 budget request released earlier this month, the combatant command is trimming its planned ...
The Air Force is budgeting $28.6 billion over the next five years to develop its next frontline fighter and an armada of autonomous escorts to go with it, according to just-released budget documents. Activities planned for 2025 include building and flying prototypes.