VOL. 64 N O . 11
T H U R S DAY, M A R C H 12 , 2020
SPACE OBSERVER P E T E R S O N
A I R
F O R C E
B A S E
Barrett, Goldfein, Raymond outline Department of the Air Force priorities to House lawmakers while acknowledging difficult budget choices By Charles Pope | SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE PUBLIC AFFAIRS WASHINGTON (AFNS) — The three most senior leaders of the Department of the Air Force told the House Armed Services Committee March 4 that the service is moving aggressively to build and incorporate the newly created Space Force and modernizing the full force to meet new and emerging threats. At the same time, Department of the Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein, and Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. Raymond acknowledged that achieving that goal within a tight budget for fiscal year 2021 demands “tough but necessary trades.” “The National Defense Strategy calls on the Department of the Air Force, as a critical component of the joint force, to deter and, if needed, defeat these threats,” Barrett said, referring to Russia, China, the changing nature of space, and the unpredictable international security environment. “This fiscal year ‘21 budget request sets the course for the Department to accomplish these aims.” Goldfein echoed that assessment but added an important nuance. “In a flat budget environment,” he said the Air Force must successfully connect “all platforms, sensors and weapons in a battlefield network” and “must find internal savings to pay for new capabilities.” The Air Force is making significant progress on the first, Goldfein said, noting a field exercise of a capability known as Advanced Battle Management System conducted in December that allows all platforms from all services to connect and move the joint force closer to connecting “all shooters to all sensors.” A second test is scheduled next month. When fully refined and operational, this battle network will allow warfighters to collect, analyze and transmit vast amounts of data from air, land, sea, space and cyber to all services and commanders. On the second, Goldfein told lawmakers that he, along with other senior Air Force officials, has identified $21 billion in spending that can be shifted to underwrite modernization. Some of those funds come from
INSIDE
1ST SOPS PROVIDES UPGRADE TO GSSAP PAGE 3
(U.S. Air Force photo by Wayne Clark)
Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. Raymond testifies before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2020. retiring a collection of older planes. The list includes 13 KC-135 Stratotankers, 16 KC10 Extenders, 24 C-130H Hercules, 17 B-1 Lancers and 24 RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20/30 aircraft, among others. Despite the tradeoffs, Goldfein told lawmakers that the $169 billion proposed budget provides funding that allows the Air Force to meet the security mandates of the National Defense Strategy and to “build an Air Force that can compete, deter and win with our joint teammates against a nuclear peer in
an era of great power competition.” “This budget,” he said, “is designed to achieve this objective.” The messages delivered by Barrett and Goldfein to the House committee were nearly identical to ones they carried the day before to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Unlike the Senate appearance, however, Raymond took part in Wednesday’s hearing. Fueled by $15.4 billion for the Space Force that is part of the $169 billion Air Force proposal, Raymond said it is targeted to fund “a
very strong pivot towards space superiority and the foundational space situational awareness, command and control, and training infrastructure capabilities that underpin space superiority.” Since the newest service was created Dec. 20, 2019, as the sixth independent branch of the military, Raymond said the focus, and many of the decisions, has been to build a “Space Force that is lean, agile and mission See Budget choices page 12
NEWS 1-12 | BRIEFS 4 | CLASSIFIED 13 | CROSSWORD 13
COVID-19 DISCUSSED DURING 52ND MDG TABLE TOP EXERCISE PAGE 8
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE PAGE 9
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS: RESULTS MAY VARY PAGE 10