UNITED STATES:The sacking of the US air force's top two officials may spur even more Pentagon spending on equipment for current wars and end production of pricey F-22 jets designed for potential conflicts with countries such as China.
Defence secretary Robert Gates forced the resignations of air force secretary Michael Wynne and chief of staff Gen Michael Moseley on Thursday after gaffes involving nuclear and missile security.
The US air force's accidental shipping of ballistic-missile fuses to Taiwan may have been the last straw amid strains over acquisition priorities, remotely piloted vehicles and other friction about post-Iraq needs, experts on the military said.
Starting months ago, Mr Gates had singled out the air force's top-of-the-line Lockheed Martin Corp F-22 Raptor fighter jet as a prime example of what he deemed misplaced military priorities.
"The reality is we are fighting two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the F-22 has not performed a single mission in either theatre," Mr Gates told a Senate committee in February.
He later urged all the services to send more remotely piloted aircraft, such as General Atomics' Predator, to the battlefield, a step that feeds surveillance video to troops in real time.
Under Mr Wynne and Gen Moseley, the air force had sought to buy 381 radar-evading F-22s - more than twice as many as the 183 budgeted by the defence department.
The F-22 costs more than $132 million apiece.
- (Reuters)