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| F-35 Lightning II (File Photo) |
By Robert Farley
The decision of the U.S. House of Representatives to hurtle head-long into a government shutdown highlights the current reluctance of the U.S. government to develop any kind of coherent plan for funding its commitments.
While the shutdown itself likely won’t have a long-term effect on military readiness, the already-existing sequester and the upcoming debt ceiling fight just might. At the same time, the U.S. military is undergoing a significant strategic and geographic shift. Combining these two projects seems like a bad idea, but then, as they say, every problem represents an opportunity.
Last week, at the Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference, questions about the impact of the sequester on the future of American airpower loomed large. The Pacific Pivot and the associated development of AirSea Battle (ASB), commits the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to an extensive set of doctrinal and procurement targets, targets that the sequester may endanger. It’s hardly unreasonable to be concerned about how cuts in funding (especially haphazard cuts like the sequester) could affect the ability of the service to meet these targets.
Read the full story at The Diplomat