Another QDR, Another Cut; Why an F-22 Stretch Out?; The UAV Factor ....
Posted on: Feb. 1st, 2006 - www.afa.org
In their first joint press conference, new Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and the new Chief of Staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, said in mid-December that they will live with the Administration’s imposed cap of 183 F-22As—renamed from F/A-22s—by extending the service lives of other fighters and depending more on advanced unmanned systems. However, they feel they won an important victory by persuading the Pentagon to extend the F-22A production line two years, until F-35 production is under way.
The personnel cuts will be absorbed as much as possible through reduced accessions and normal attrition, they said, adding that some of the cuts were coming anyway, due to the reduced support needs of the service’s modern systems.
