Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) introduced an amendment for the 2010 defense spending bill that would prohibit the Air Force from executing its 2010 fighter aircraft hit list until the service provides lawmakers with “a detailed plan” about the aftermath, according to the Congressional Record for Oct. 1. Bond, along with Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), want USAF to inform Congress about how the service will fill force structure and capability gaps. And, the Senators want to know what USAF is doing about follow-on missions and jobs for both active duty and reserve forces. They also want to know what criteria the service used to select the affected units and targeted fighters and how much the service will save and to what use it will put those dollars. Continue
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…