Gen. David Goldfein, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, told Defense News on Monday about his priority to link assets across the joint force to facilitate secure data sharing through the joint all domain command and control concept.
“Right now we’re really focused on making sure that my fellow joint chiefs truly believe that we have their equities covered,” Goldfein when asked about his plans for the JADC2 program. “What I want to do in these next few months is make sure that we get to a point where they’re comfortable. We’re not just paying lip service but are diving into this so that we’re moving forward as a joint team and not just an Air Force team.”
He noted that the service branch continues to stick to the goal of having 386 operational squadrons by 2030 to address the threats posed by Russia and China. “The 386 target is still the absolute viable target. And I shouldn’t back off the answer to the question just because we’re not able to afford it. It’s still the absolute answer to the question we got from Congress,” he added.
Goldfein discussed plans to retire legacy aircraft, the service’s new aircraft production lines and the increasing requirement for space capability. He also mentioned talks with defense industry CEOs through “issue dinners.”
