Strategy, Not Just Sequester, Drives A-10 Cut: Air Force Chief Gen. Welsh

Strategy, Not Just Sequester, Drives A-10 Cut: Air Force Chief Gen. Welsh
Strategy, Not Just Sequester, Drives A-10 Cut: Air Force Chief Gen. Welsh

Budget cuts won’t make the Air Force give up any of its current missions, the service’s Chief of Staff promised today. But, Gen. Mark Welsh acknowledged, the cuts will force it to do those missions with different and perhaps not optimal aircraft. Yes, the famous A-10 “Warthog” is “the best at close air support” –…

CSAF Welsh: Sequester Groundings Threaten Readiness For Syria

CSAF Welsh: Sequester Groundings Threaten Readiness For Syria
CSAF Welsh: Sequester Groundings Threaten Readiness For Syria

ARLINGTON: As if Syria and sequestration weren’t complicated enough on their own, the combat training cutbacks required by the sequester are cutting into the military’s readiness to intervene, the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark Welsh, told reporters this morning. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno has expressed similar concerns about his service’s…

Where’s The Beef? Krepinevich Slams Vagueness Of US Strategy

WASHINGTON: Where’s the strategic beef? That’s what Andrew Krepinevich wants to know. “When the administration came out with its strategic guidance [in] January, I thought the guidance made a lot of sense in terms of setting priorities,” the head of the influential Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments said this morning at the headquarters of…

Intelligence Chief Hints At New Spy Satellites; Biggest Change in 30 Years

ORLANDO: The United States has boosted into orbit new spy satellites that mark “the most significant change to our overhead architecture in at least three decades,” said the head of military intelligence, Mike Vickers. Vickers also said these National Reconnaissance Office’s satellites comprise “a truly integrated system of systems for the first time.” Sadly for…

Our Nukes Cost More Than You Think; Stimson Pegs Annual Nuke Spending At $31B

The defense budget is going down…have you heard? The presidential campaign is shedding a lot of heat, but very little light on this reality; you won’t hear much of substance about how or where it will go down. Or much sensible or reasonable discussion about how we manage a defense build-down in a way that…

Is Next-Gen. Bomber Biggest Air Force Mistake in Last 50 Years?

It may surprise many, but today’s Air Force cannot hold every contested target at risk, a fundamental strategic goal. Last week, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and other senior leaders at the Air Force Association’s annual air and space conference made a clear and compelling case for long-range strike. The Air Force plans to fund…

Taxpayer Groups Urge Cuts of $600 Billion; Whack JSF, Next-Gen Bomber

Washington: Two respected taxpayer groups are calling for more than half-a-trillion in defense cuts. The Project for Government Oversight (POGO) and Taxpayers for Common Sense released a plan today targeting some $586 billion in what they call “wasteful defense and contractor spending over the next 10 years.” The two groups say the weapons systems they’ve…

U.S. Doesn’t Need Next-Gen Bomber, May Scrap Aircraft Carrier

Washington: America does not need a stealthy long-range bomber able to penetrate deep into remote, well-defended places, America’s No. 2 military officer said this morning. The country, Marine Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright said, cannot afford to buy an upgraded nuclear triad of new bombers, new intercontinental ballistic missiles and new nuclear missile submarines. Cartwright, outgoing…