An “end-to-end review is underway” to find the right balance in requirements, cost of depot maintenance, and supply chain, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said Monday. “Effectiveness and efficiency must go hand in hand,” in program longevity, he said. Both requirements and costs have been rising in weapon system sustainment and materiel readiness, and “we must tend” to that reality by figuring out less costly means of sustainment, he said.
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.