By Marina Malenic
The Air Force is prepared to make its case for purchasing a next generation bomber aircraft during two major Pentagon weapon reviews, the air service’s top officer said last week.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended that commencement of a new bomber acquisition be postponed until the Quadrennial Defense Review–a congressionally mandated examination of all the department’s weapons programs–and the Nuclear Posture Review, are completed and the proposal is studied in detail within both contexts.
“There is no question in my mind that there is a need for long-range strike in the DoD portfolio,” Schwartz said following an April 24 speech at the Brookings Institution. “The question is, how will you define it? And [Gates] has come back to us and said, ‘Look, I’m not sure that you’ve got this right yet–the size, the capacity, the essential characteristics. Persuade me.’
“And we intend to do that,” Schwartz said.
Earlier in last week, Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, commander of 8th Air Force, Barksdale AFB, La., expressed optimism about the program going forward after the reviews, calling long- range strike a “signature mission” of his service. But he also emphasized the B-52 Stratofortress’ innovative roles in homeland security-related coastal surveillance and recent reconnaissance missions during natural disasters.
Maj. Gen. Donald Alston, the Air Force’s assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, also discussed what has become a multi-mission portfolio for bombers in recent years.
“Our men and women downrange depend on the persistence and the contribution to irregular warfare that the bomber community is bringing every day,” Alston said on April 24. “We’re using our bombers in a most extraordinary way today that we might not have imagined 30 years ago. That capability is vital, we’ve got to keep it going.”