The Senate ratifies the New START arms reduction treaty with Russia by a margin of 71 to 26, delivering President Barack Obama a key foreign policy victory. The Russian Duma still needs to ratify the accord for it to enter into force. Under it, both the United States and Russia would reduce their strategic nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed warheads, 700 deployed launchers, and 800 launchers overall. President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed New START on April 8, 2010.
A record investment in research and development by the Department of the Air Force will help the United States win the long-term technology race with China, even while shrinking the fleet size before a possible mid-decade Taiwan contingency, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said May 17. “With the Air Force,…