In the defense appropriations measure approved on July 20, Senators took a heavy swipe at some troubled space programs. They chopped $230 million from the Transformational Satellite Communications program “due to concerns over the amount of program growth,” said the panel’s release. It went on to note that, “due to uncertainties” about the Space Radar program, it sliced $100 million from the Air Force request. As for the Space-Based Infrared System, it managed to avoid a cut.
The Air Force still needs more than 300 combat squadrons, but the biggest priority is not number of squadrons but capability, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said Sept. 22. He also suggested the records set by the Next Generation Air Dominance prototype likely have more to do…