Frank Kendall, secretary of the Air Force and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, said timely budget authorizations and appropriations are key to advancing the Air Force and Space Force’s modernization initiatives to address real-world challenges.
Speaking before the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Kendall said that the Department of the Air Force is “ready to move forward with the next generation of capabilities we need and there is no time to lose.”
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations and a fellow 2023 Wash100 Award recipient, agreed that budget must be approved on time to enable the Space Force to maintain its competitive advantage.
According to Saltzman, the service branch’s $30 billion budget request “is designed to deliver the forces, personnel and partnerships the Space Force requires to preserve U.S. advantages in space.”
Gen. Charles Brown, Jr., chief of staff of the Air Force, echoed the same sentiments during the subcommittee hearing.
“An on-time budget will continue the change required to address both todays and tomorrow’s national security threats,” Brown said.
DAF’s $259.3 billion budget request for 2024 includes $185.1 billion for the Air Force and $30 billion for the Space Force and represents a $9.3 billion increase over last year’s enacted budget.
Kendall, Brown and Saltzman told Congress that the budget request contains nearly two dozen new programs to add equipment and capabilities for countering strategic competitors like China and Russia.
Kendall is slated to keynote the Potomac Officers Club’s 2023 Annual Air Force Summit on July 28. Click here to register and hear from Air Force leaders about the service branch’s digital transformation initiatives.
