The Air Force is committed to developing its next long-range strike capability despite defense spending reductions, a top general said yesterday, adding the platform “remains essential.”
“Certainly the Air Force remains committed to long-range strike,” Lt. Gen. Dick Newton told a gathering at a breakfast hosted by the Air Force Association.
The Air Force will balance its needs in the years ahead as fewer funds will be available, but how the budget situation will be resolved is still “unknown,” Newton said.
“We’ll see how the budget plays out,” he said. Newton added the Air Force “might be smaller” in the future but will “still be credible and capable.”
The Pentagon is facing at least $450 billion in cuts over the next 10 years as the Obama administration and Congress seek to rein in deficit spending and the ballooning national debt.
A congressional “super-committee” tasked with outlining a 10-year reduction plan failed to meet its Nov. 23 deadline, meaning a sequestration measure could kick in that would further cut defense spending by $500 billion over the next decade.
Newton said protecting the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and KC-46A tanker programs also remain a top priority.