“We intend to come forward in the [fiscal year 2008] president’s budget with a hard plan to essentially offer a fly-before-buy option so that we can in fact lock in a 2017 initial operational capability,” Wynne told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee March 29.

The Pentagon, as part of the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review, opted to terminate the Air Force’s portion of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program (ITAF, Jan. 13, p1). Meanwhile, the Navy is moving forward with its part of the program. The QDR also ordered the air service to field a new long-range bombing aircraft by 2018.

Since that decision became public, Air Force and DOD officials have said the air service plans to rely heavily on lessons gleaned from its J-UCAS work as it begins developing a new long-range strike program. Service officials are mulling whether the embryonic program ultimately will field a family of bombing aircraft or merely a single plane. Those same officials have expressed resounding interest in the possibility of developing an unmanned bomber.

To that end, service officials expect to launch a broad study this year that will articulate a list of requirements for a next-generation long-range strike program. The review will be the service’s first try at transitioning technical lessons taken from its J-UCAS work into the new strike program (ITAF, Feb. 10, p1).

Wynne’s mention of including plans for a fly-off of the field of platforms that likely will soon emerge for the multibillion-dollar long-range bomber contract meshes with comments made by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley during a recent interview with ITAF.

Moseley told ITAF earlier this month that senior service officials might opt to commission a fly-off to determine which industry platforms are best suited to meet the service’s need for the new long-range bomber by 2018 (ITAF, March 10, p1).

“I’m willing to look at some creative ways to give [industry] an amount of money and say, ‘You guys come back in X number of months and see what we got.’ Let’s fly these babies off and see what we end up with,” Moseley said March 7 following testimony before the House Appropriations military quality of life and Veterans Affairs subcommittee.

“2018 is a mark on a wall,” the air chief said. Moseley told ITAF that he and service Secretary Michael Wynne “have some ideas that we’re going to play with and chat with some folks to see if there’s not some way to jump-start that.”

Air Force officials might soon engage with industry “by asking them some questions about what they think they can do,” he said. Though such queries often are made by the services in the form of requests for proposals or information, the four-star said those questions could be asked in a more informal manner.

An accelerated strategy “gets people in the game, that gets people building things,” Moseley said. “And you fly ‘em off and you get to actually compete” the actual airframes “and you take the best of breed.”

Asked by ITAF to name his number one requirement for the futuristic bomber platform, Moseley said the new aircraft “has got to have range and persistence, but it’s got to be survivable.”

Though the ability to fly long distances before releasing its payload will be a key requirement for the new bomber, “just getting there is not the full equation,” the four-star said. “You’ve got to be able to survive [an enemy’s] threat array. You’ve got to be able to orchestrate yourself with the rest of the systems,” he added, “Whether they’re space or they’re other air-breathing” platforms.

In addition, the Air Force’s FY-07 spending plan calls for its B-52 fleet to be trimmed from 94 to 56, which has drawn the ire and concern of some on Capitol Hill. The reduction would be achieved by retiring a number of the B-52s earlier than anticipated.

“If there is no long-range strike capability on the drawing board until 2016, why would we cut the most versatile long-range bomber from our fleet now without anything on the drawing board now or, it seems like, in the near future?” subcommittee member Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) asked Air Force leaders during this week’s session.

Burns told Wynne and Moseley during the hearing he is “just sort of concerned” about the plans to retire the 38 B-52s earlier than first intended.

Wynne responded by stating Air Force officials, after conducting a strike-focused analysis, “think that we have an adequate supply of B-52s with the reduced number.”

Later during the same session, panel member Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) asked Moseley if he would prefer keeping more than 56 in the active inventory.

“If I had my druthers, I’d build a new bomber,” the air chief replied. “I would build a new bomber so I can penetrate airspace and maintain persistence, and I can deliver this effect -- whether it’s opposed or unopposed airspace.”