Air Frame: Year in Review, January 2011: Video and still images appeared on the Internet on Jan. 11, 2011, of China’s J-20 stealthy looking combat aircraft, shown here, making its maiden flight. That was the same day on which then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Beijing on his official visit to China. Also in January, Gates announced that the Air Force would shed nearly $34 billion over the next five fiscal years as part of the Defense Department’s overall effort to cut $100 billion in overhead. Also, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley acknowledged that changes to the F-35 strike fighter’s development schedule would likely mean that the service’s first operational F-35A unit would not be ready for combat until late 2016 or beyond. Photo via Internet
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
