As much expertise as the National Guard has compiled in homeland defense missions, Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, National Guard Bureau boss, said he is not receptive to suggestions that would separate the Guard from the total force to serve solely in domestic missions. “This heads you down the road of being a constabulary force and won’t serve the nation as effectively,” McKinley said Tuesday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference. To dedicate the Guard—Army or Air—to domestic missions would erode capability across the total force.
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.