Asked where he’d like to see his next investment dollar go, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the Air Staff’s intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance lead, said Wednesday he’d put it towards a long-range, multi-role strike platform. “We cannot move into a future without a platform that allows the United States of America to project power over long distances and to meet advanced threat systems in a fashion that gives us an advantage that no other nation has,” Deptula said following an Air Force Association-sponsored breakfast speech in Arlington, Va. He added, “We can’t walk away from that.” He emphasized that this future “bomber,” like modern F-22s and F-35s, will not be a single-role platform, even if it has a “B” designation, but rather a “flying sensor platform” that also has the capability to deliver ordnance. “No longer are we going to build or should we build single-capability platforms,” he said.
The Space Force is playing a key role in planning for “Golden Dome,” President Donald Trump’s initiative for comprehensive air and missile defense of the homeland, leaders said this week. But actually building and fielding the ambitious idea will require a major concerted effort across the Pentagon and intelligence community.