Inside the Air Force highlights

Some must-reads from this week's issue of Inside the Air Force:

1. The Air Force has said it needs to ramp its F-35A procurement to 60 jets per year as soon as possible, but its fiscal year 2018 budget request takes a step back from that plan, pushing that target out past FY-22.

Full Story: FY-18 budget slows Air Force's path to 60 F-35s per year

2. The Air Force's fiscal year 2018 budget request proposes a $4.5 billion increase to its Next-Generation Air Dominance program over the next five years -- potentially lending momentum to the service's lengthy effort to develop a follow-on to the F-22.

Full Story: Air Force details five-year, $4.5 billion plan for Next-Gen Air Dominance

3. The Air Force's fiscal year 2018 budget request sheds new light on how much the service expects to spend over the next five years on research and development to replace its ground- and air-launched nuclear missiles, after adjusting its figures to reflect new cost estimates.

Full Story: USAF revises nuclear missile replacement cost, schedule in FY-18 request