Outgoing Secretary Of Defense Says Modernization Is Key

The outgoing Secretary of Defense says that the U.S. needs to move now on development of a replacement to the B-2 stealth bomber, which first flew 25 years ago.

In a speech at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (pictured in official photo) said that "the one thing we cannot fall behind in is modernization. That has to start now."

The Kansas City Star reports that Hagel added that a yet-to-be-designed long-range strike bomber needs to be funded now, so that it can overlap with the B-2 in the say way that it overlapped with the B-1 and B-52 before it. He blasted sequestration as a "mindless, irresponsible way to govern."

Any new bomber, of course, will take several years to conceptualize, bid, design, and bring to production. The Defense Department estimates that a new long-range bomber could cost about $550 million each, and it has a tentative timeline of first flight of the mid-2020s. The secretary of the Air Force Deborah James says that a new strategic bomber is the top modernization priority for the service.

FMI: www.af.mil