U.S. Air Force officials told senators at a hearing that the service seeks to prioritize efforts to establish a joint command-and-control system, dominate space and generate nuclear combat power in its $169 billion budget proposal.
The Air Force said Tuesday that USAF Secretary Barbara Barrett and Gen. David Goldfein, the service's chief of staff and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the military branch’s priorities for its fiscal 2021 budget request.
Barrett outlined goals related to countering peer competitors like China and Russia. These include establishing the Joint All-Domain C2 battle management platform, sustaining the U.S. Space Force and modernizing the nuclear triad’s land and airborne units to include additional squadrons and B-21 long-range bomber aircraft.
“This budget, building on the last three, offers the most aggressive package of strategic trades we have made as a service in over two decades to achieve complete alignment with the National Defense Strategy and secures our nation’s military superiority over the next decade,” said Goldfein.
The Air Force noted that the proposed budget also covers the acquisition of modernized aerial refueling, transport, supersonic and surveillance aircraft.
