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Air Force

Meink Directs MMA Acceleration, USAF Eyes $10 Million Unit Cost for Air Vehicle, $20 Million for CCA Air Vehicle

Frank Wolfe

Thursday, September 3rd, 2026

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Meink Directs MMA Acceleration, USAF Eyes $10 Million Unit Cost for Air Vehicle, $20 Million for CCA Air Vehicle

Pictured is a U.S. Air Force photo of An MQ-9A Reaper on the flight line at Creech AFB, Nev. on April 15, 2025.

A U.S. Air Force and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) solicitation in July pegged initial operational capability (IOC) of 20 Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA) in fiscal 2031, but that schedule may move up two years at the direction of Air Force Secretary Troy Meink. The 20 MMAs for IOC in fiscal 2031 "are closer to where we were until fairly recently," Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Niemi, the service's deputy chief of staff for force modernization, told reporters at the Pentagon…

Budget

Hegseth Pushes For Reconciliation With At Least $350 Billion For Defense ‘Regardless’ Of Midterms Outcome

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday the Trump administration plans to continue its push for at least $350 billion in defense funds via the reconciliation process “regardless of what happens […]

Congress

Bipartisan Push in Senate to Hasten Export of 155 mm, GMLRS, HIMARS for Ukraine

A small, bipartisan group of senators is backing the Fast Tracking European Investment in Ukraine’s Defense Act, S. 5175, to hasten the export of allied buys of U.S. munitions for […]

Congress

Rep. Himes Signals Increased Contractor Oversight, if Democrats Win House

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, plans to increase the committee’s contractor oversight if the Democrats win control of the House […]

Congress

CBO Estimates Loss of One-Half to Two-Thirds of U.S. Missile Interceptors Since June Last Year

A new Congressional Budget Office report estimates the cost of the Iran war through Aug. 1 as $38 billion and says that the U.S. has likely depleted between one-half and […]