We broke a story at InsideDefense.com yesterday that you'll be hearing more about soon. It's now up on Military.com:
The Air Force is proposing a $5 billion down payment for a next-generation long-range strike aircraft, money the service hopes will propel research and development needed to meet the Pentagons goal of fielding a new bomber fleet by 2018, according to sources familiar with new Air Force investment plans.
This robust commitment -- detailed in the Air Forces proposed six-year spending plan, which was submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense earlier this month -- would accelerate bomber modernization by two decades in a bid to augment the effectiveness of U.S. air power in the Asia-Pacific region.
The purpose of this initially is to do some studies, design trade-offs as well as research and development, a source familiar with the Air Forces new bomber plans.
For the official Air Force word on future bombers, try this.
. . . . And with that, I'm out. It's been fun. Thanks to Noah for another opportunity to sit in the guest editor's chair.
One shameless plug before I sign off: Go see this band. They're terrific. I'll be at their New York show Monday night.
Welcome back, Noah. And congrats, again.
-- Dan Dupont
