One thing that worries Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser is making sure that his combat forces get the training they need for the toughest potential fights. “There’s a different training requirement needed with irregular warfare versus the high end” of combat operations. He said keeping readiness levels “up where they need to be, should something else happen or if we’re called upon to perform somewhere else is probably the toughest piece in a resource-constrained environment.” Fraser said there will be increased use of distributed mission operations and simulation to keep his forces up to snuff for big wars even as they prosecute counterinsurgency.
Expanded production of the B-21 bomber can be accomplished at Northrop Grumman's existing Palmdale, Calif., facilities, the Air Force said. It also said test aircraft will be so simular to the production version that early examples could be used in combat if called for.