Air Force Wants More Planes Faster—Plus a Thousand Drone Wingmen – By Audrey Decker (Defense One) / Mar 7, 2023
The service secretary previewed the 2024 budget request.
The U.S. Air Force wants to accelerate its purchases of existing aircraft—and wants a thousand drones to accompany its fighter pilots into combat, the service’s secretary said Tuesday.
“We will be acquiring aircraft in production at higher rates than previously planned,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Tuesday at an Air Force Association conference in Aurora, Colorado.
Those changes will be laid out in the Pentagon’s 2024 budget request, which will also contain close to 20 new programs or “significantly enhanced efforts,” Kendall said. The service will also propose the retirement of aircraft as part of its bid to increase “midterm capability and capacity,” he said.
The request is expected to be sent to Congress in coming days.
