Need to Move Quickly

Need to Move Quickly: US Strategic Command is still interested having a so-called prompt global strike weapon by 2015. Global Security Newswire reported yesterday that fielding the notional long-range, non-nuclear weapon system, such as a Minuteman III ICBM armed with a conventional warhead, remains a top priority of the command to deal with scenarios in which there are no other viable options to reach the most important types of time-critical targets such as Osama bin Laden emerging in the open. An important indicator of the maturity of such technology will be DARPA’s upcoming flight tests starting in December of two hypersonic test vehicles over the Pacific Ocean. These HTVs, developed under DARPA’s Falcon program, have similar characteristics to the notional shrouds that would protect a weapons payload en route to the target when carried aboard a conventionally armed MMIII. STRATCOM spokesman Navy Lt. Charles Drey told GSN that “it is prudent to allow" those tests to proceed before committing down the path of any particular prompt global strike system.

7/2/2009

On the Record

Mission One
"The health and safety of our pilots—all of our pilots—is our utmost priority. Our operational flight surgeons and our medical staff interact with our pilots on a daily basis."
—Brig. Gen. Daniel Wyman, Air Combat Command command surgeon, speaking to reporters during a teleconference, May 9, 2012. He was emphasizing that the Air Force is doing all it can to ensure the safety of F-22 pilots as service officials continue to home in on the cause of why some Raptor pilots have experienced hypoxia-like symptoms in the cockpit like difficulty concentrating, fatigue, headaches, and nausea.

On the Record

Message to Congress
"If you give us force structure back, give us the money, too. Because the quickest way I know to a hollow force is to give us structure without money. Simple as that. . . . 'Make it work' is not a satisfactory solution."
—Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz articulating his message to lawmakers on the Air Force's Fiscal 2013 budget proposal during a speech at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., May 1, 2012. The Air Force leadership has proposed reducing force structure and personnel next fiscal year in order to maintain a ready and capable force as the service absorbs significant spending cuts.