When asked what keeps him awake at night, Gen. Bob Kehler, Air Force Space Command boss, told the House Armed Services strategic forces panel Wednesday there are two things: recruiting and retaining “world-class” space and cyberspace professionals and long-term industrial base viability. AFSPC has dealt with the space side of the people equation for years as “we compete with civilian industry,” but now the command has taken on the new cyberspace mission, and Kehler says that side of the problem “will be an acute issue for us as we go forward.” He told lawmakers that various reports have described the industrial base as having “more fragility” than in the past, and he wants to ensure current leaders leave “the appropriate industrial base” to meet their successors’ needs in the future. Kehler also expressed concern that the need to “pay attention to [future] innovation” is languishing.
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.