
The concept of "affordable mass" for the U.S. Air Force to deter China plays not only in the service's discussions on whether to build a manned Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter or rely predominately on cheaper, unmanned, artificial intelligence-enabled air-to-air Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The Air Force is now also taking on "affordable mass" in the munitions arena. "We don't have enough topline money for munitions--full stop," Timothy Grayson, the special assistant to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, said…