Further Aircraft Cuts Loom

Gordon "the knife" England wants to do for the Air Force what he did for the Navy, make deep cuts in fighter aircraft purchases. As this article states

Gordon R. England, the prospective deputy secretary of defense, has launched a study aimed at further slashing the future size of the US military’s fighter fleet. The terms of the study indicate a clear intent to make deeper cuts in the already truncated F/A-22 and F-35 programs to reduce defense spending.
In an Aug. 4 memo to the service Secretaries, England said he had commissioned a study headed by the firm of Whitney, Bradley, & Brown, Inc., to “facilitate greater optimization of tactical aircraft.” The goal of the study, England said, will be to “identify capabilities and efficiencies” resulting from rationalizing “Air Force, Navy, Marine, National Guard, and Reserve TACAIR.” The company will have support from the vice chiefs of staff of the services and report directly to England and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

Naturally, the Air Force brass is slightly concerned:

A senior Air Force official said the service “has expressed some concern” about the new study, especially since so many TACAIR reviews are already pending.
“To come in at this late stage in the QDR and gin up another one, we’re concerned that there will not be time for sufficient analysis to inform decisions,” he said. “And the last thing we want is another PBD 753 drill, where you’re jumping to conclusions, without the benefit of informed analysis,” leading to “a lot of unintended consequences.”