USAF Chief Charts New Airfield Defense Push, T-7 Upside, and F-35 Delays

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach outlines a shift toward hardening airfield defense with a new point-defense career field against missiles, drones, and one‑way attack threats, argues for low-cost protective measures over heavily hardened shelters, and mentions directed-energy and other non-kinetic options. He also expresses confidence in the T-7 Red Hawk as a potential single trainer to streamline training and costs, while urging faster delivery and fixes for the F-35 Block 4/TR-3 upgrades amid ongoing capability gaps. He notes flexible deployment to mitigate current delays and emphasizes output from the program despite the challenges.