The Air Force and Air National Guard will almost certainly see investment dollars directed into bolstering their legacy F-16 fighters in the upcoming Fiscal 2012 budget. However, the extent of those improvements to extend the service life of F-16 Block 30s and increase capability in newer generation F-16s will be closely tied to the health of the F-35 strike fighter program, said ANG Director Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt in a December interview. Wyatt said the Pentagon’s sweeping F-35 review is gauging that level of health, which Defense Department acquisition boss Ash Carter will then use to make decisions on the course of the F-35 program going forward. Those decisions will be reflected in the Fiscal 2012 budget. The ultimate number of F-16s that USAF will include in this work will depend on the conclusions that Carter draws from the F-35 review, said Wyatt. Continue
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.