8 % “painful” discounts, but it can bring new money to the Air Force

A general warned against air stars on Wednesday Possible 8 % discounts for the service budget It will be “painful”.

But Major General Joseph Konkel, Director of Service to Design Power, Integration and Heat, expressed his hope that the Air Force would be able to obtain additional financing for his maximum priorities, noting that it complies with the Trump administration's focus on the girl and deterrence and the ability to finance financing from cost -of -service cost measures.

Defense Minister Beit Higseth ordered the services last week Review their budgets and find 8 % From the planned financial spending, it can be redirected from non -conical programs towards efforts that make the army more effective. The Air Force said that one of the ways to follow up to achieve these targets is to accelerate them Old and spontaneous aircraft retirement.

“With the presence of the Air Force is smaller and greater than any other time in its history of approximately 80 years,” there are not many places that we can go to, “Kunkel said on Wednesday.

Konkel said in a Discussion of its hosting in Washington by the Hudson Institute of Thought. “It will really look bad.”

But KUNKEL indicated that HegSeth plans to redirect money within the department and that the army budget will not be reduced in general.

Konkel said that the Air Force's priorities are to protect the homeland, and expect power abroad and strategic deterrence. He said that the Air Force will consider all its efforts as part of “2 % of the exercises”, and anything that does not contribute to one of these priorities will be reviewed at least.

Konkel said that the Air Force, with its ability to employ force quickly around the world, would become more important in a future conflict. However, to win this war, he said, the service cannot continue to work under the same design, only with modern and explosive fighters.

Konkel said that the service will need to control its capabilities to face the country's threats and protect its ground systems necessary to launch aircraft or other weapons.

The Air Force efforts to create a sixth -generation fighter and the accompanying systems, known as the name Air hegemony for the next generationOr Nagad, is Now waiting While the service reconsidates how to tame it High costs.

Kunkel said that when the Air Force studied how the war will play with and without NGAD in its fleet, “the battle looks much better when NGAD is.”

He said that Nagad and the accompanying “family of regimes”, such as drones, known as cooperative combat aircraft, will not be able to stay alone. The Air Force will need to invest in the survivable survival rules and fuel conveyors that can resist enemy attacks, so that the service can generate combat flights and then maintain gases, even under the fire.

KUNKEL said, if the government decides not to follow NGAD, the Air Force will remain part of the battle – but the operational risks will be higher and the army may not be able to achieve all the fighting targets it defines.

“It is a package deal,” Kunkel said. “NGAD is still an important part of our strength design, and it mainly changes the personality of the battle in a right way for common power.”