Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is back in action, lambasting the Air Force for obfuscating the C-130J program and slow-rolling Congressional demands for more information. The Air Force apparently has not moved fast enough to convert the C-130J commercial contract to a standard military procurement arrangement. (It has just signed a draft agreement with Lockheed Martin.) Former acting Air Force Secretary Michael Dominguez, at his confirmation hearing Wednesday for a top DOD personnel job, got the brunt of McCain’s wrath. McCain threatened to hold up the Dominguez nomination until the matter is “completely resolved.”
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.