The Air Force has begun the very first steps in identifying its next generation of nuclear ballistic missiles, the commander of the service’s nuclear forces told lawmakers today. Meanwhile, the integration of the B61 tactical nuclear bomb onto the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may be delayed as the overall JSF program slips in schedule.

One of the Army’s top budget officers today warned of coming friction between Army personnel costs and procurement programs such as the Ground Combat Vehicle and Joint Light Tactical Vehicle as defense budget cuts are unveiled in the coming years.

Any changes to the KC-X contract will have to be approved at the highest levels of the service and Pentagon leadership, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said today.

Air Force officials are still making up their minds as to whether the service will move to buy an existing chopper or a new one to replace the service’s ageing UH-1 Huey and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters.

It looks like the first quarter of 2011 was a good one for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter test program, with the plane logging 57 more test flights than the planned 142, even in the face of a fleetwide grounding last month, according to Lockheed officials.

Former Air Force ISR chief, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, just isn’t buying the explanation given by Air Force leaders last week that distance is what kept the F-22 Raptor out of Operation Odyssey Dawn. Instead, political reasons likely kept the most advanced jet on Earth out of the fight, according to Deptula, an early advocate of using the jet to enforce the no-fly zone in Libya.

Despite the need for constant technological innovation in the digital realm, the best defense against cyber attacks is not a new weapon system but strict human security procedures, said Air Force Space Command’s Vice Commander, Lt. Gen. Michael Basla last week.

The Air Force’s Chief Information Officer, Lt. Gen. William Lord just shed some more light on how the Pentagon is working to solve the timeless problem of getting all its jets, satellites and ground vehicles to talk to one another.

Both EADS and Boeing supporters on Capitol Hill continue to make noise about the Air Force’s now settled KC-X contest which saw Boeing recently win the $30-$35 billion contract to replace the Air Force’s oldest KC-135s with the 767-based KC-46A.

The military has long been extremely quiet regarding its offensive cyber capabilities, largely leaving it up to analysts and pundits to describe what offensive operations would look like. Yesterday however, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz dropped the biggest hint I’ve heard a Pentagon official say in a while about offensive cyber ops.