Brian Everstine is the Pentagon Editor for Aviation Week, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining Aviation Week in August 2021, Brian covered the Pentagon for Air Force Magazine. Brian began covering defense aviation in 2011 as a reporter for Military Times. Over a decade as a defense journalist, he has reported from dozens of bases at home and abroad, including austere airstrips in Afghanistan, the cockpit of a B-52 over the South Pacific and the boom operator station of a KC-46. Before the military beat, Brian covered the Washington state legislature for the Associated Press.
The U.S. Air Force’s plan to dramatically cut its buy of Sikorsky HH-60W combat rescue helicopters would be a Nunn-McCurdy Breach as the cost per unit of the choppers would spike, raising more questions about the future of the program.
The U.S. Air Force’s short-lived “Digital Century Series” plan appears to be dead for future manned fighters, but the service says the plan’s focus on rapidly iterating designs could be relevant for its future drones.
If Congress blocks the U.S. Air Force’s plan to retire 33 of its oldest F-22s, the service would then see impacts on its plan to field new drones to complement the Next Generation Air Dominance as it faces the bill to upgrade the Raptors.
