WASHINGTON —
The Air Force's fiscal year 2019 budget request builds on momentum to restore the force after years of funding uncertainty and addresses the challenges from a great power competition, Air Force leaders said today.
The budget request is well-aligned with the National Defense Strategy and recognizes the international security environment is more competitive and dangerous than it has been in decades, Air Force Secretary Heather A. Wilson said.
“We've returned to an era of great power competition, and that great power competition is the central challenge to U.S. security and prosperity,” she said.
Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein testified on the Air Force's fiscal year 2019 funding request and budget justification at a Senate Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee hearing.
Air Force Focuses on ‘Bold Moves'
Key areas addressed in the budget request include readiness, people, nuclear deterrence, modernization, space superiority, multidomain command and control, air superiority, light attack, and science and technology, Wilson and Goldfein pointed out.
In addition, it prioritizes long-term competition with China and Russia, they noted.
The request focuses on continuing the efforts to restore the readiness of the force to allow the U.S. to “win any fight, any time,” and…
