WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2008
Air Force: We're At The Breaking Point
Officials Seeks Billions To Upgrade Military's Aging Aircraft
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The Pentagon plans to spend $62 billion to purchase a total of 183 F-22 Raptor fighters, built jointly by Lockheed Martin and Boeing. (AP)
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After more than six years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Air Force's aging jet fighters, bombers, cargo aircraft and gunships are at the breaking point, they say, and expensive, ultramodern replacements are needed fast.
"What we've done is put the requirement on the table that says, 'If we're going to do the missions you're going to ask us to do, it will require this kind of investment,"' Maj. Gen. Paul Selva, the Air Force's director of strategic planning, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"Failing that, we take what is already a geriatric Air Force," Selva said, "and we drive it for another 20 years into an area of uncertainty."
An extra $20 billion each year over the next five - beginning with an Air Force budget of about $137 billion in 2009 instead of the $117 billion proposed by the Bush administration - would solve that problem, according to Selva and other senior Air Force officers.
Yet the prospects for huge infusions of cash seem dim. Congress is expected to boost the 2009 budget, but not to the level urged by the Air Force. In the years that follow, a possible recession, a rising federal deficit and a distaste for higher taxes all portend a decline in defense spending regardless of which party wins the White House in November.
"The Air Force is going to be confronting a major procurement crisis because it can't buy all the things that it absolutely needs," said Dov Zakheim, a former Pentagon comptroller. "It's going to force us to rethink, yet again, what is the strategy we want? What can we give up?"
The Air Force's distress is partly self-inflicted, says Steve Kosiak of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington. The F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning, the new jet fighters that will supplant the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon, have drastically higher price tags than their predecessors and require a bigger chunk of the defense budget.
"One of the reasons their equipment has aged so much is because they continue to move ahead with the development and presumed acquisition of new weapon systems that cost two to three times as much as the systems they are replacing," Kosiak said. "It's like replacing a Toyota with a Mercedes."
It is not as if the Air Force has gone without any new airplanes. The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the C-17 Globemaster airlifter and the CV-22 tilt-rotor, which flies like a helicopter or an airplane, have all been added since the mid-1990s.
The Air Force also is planning to spend between $30 billion and $40 billion over the next 15 years for new refueling tankers. A contract is expected to be awarded soon. Those new tankers, however, will not be flying until 2013.
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The Air Force is not alone in wanting more money, but its appetite is far greater than the other military branches. Shortly after President George W. Bush submitted his defense plan for the 2009 budget year, which begins Oct. 1, each service outlined for Congress what it felt was left out. The Air Force's "wish list" totaled $18.8 billion, almost twice as much as the other three services combined.Al Qaeda doesn't exactly have an advanced aerial defense system.
David Small, Air Force spokesman"There's no justification for it. Period. End of story," said Gordon Adams, a former Clinton administration budget official who specializes in defense issues. "Until someone constrains these budget requests, the hunger for more will charge ahead unchecked."
Current F-15s and F-16s are on average more than 20 years old and have reached a point where spending more money on extensive repairs is a poor investment, Selva said. Originally designed to last 4,000 flying hours, both have been extended beyond 8,000.
An F-15 with a comparatively low 5,000 flying hours disintegrated during a routine training flight over Missouri in early November. For the Air Force, that crash has become a touchstone event that demonstrates the precarious state of a fleet collectively older than any in the service's 60-year history.
Following the Missouri accident, more than 400 F-15s were grounded as Air Force mechanics scoured them for defects that might cause a similar accident. The F-15, a twin-engine jet with a top speed of 1,875 miles per hour, is the anchor of the nation's air defense network.
As aircraft age, corrosion eats away at metal parts. Wiring and sealing begin to deteriorate. The fatigue, which can be hard to detect, is most acute in fighters that make turns while going at incredible speeds.
"An hour is not an hour" to an aircraft constantly under the strain of G-forces, Gen. John D.W. Corley, head of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va., said at a news conference last month. "It's like dog years."
The more an aircraft is flown, the more expensive and more extensive maintenance becomes, Corley and Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee during a Feb. 6 hearing.
The bottom line, the generals said, is older aircraft are in the shop more often and cost more to fly when they are available.
It is not just the fighters that are elderly.
Selva, who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1980, said he remembers hearing about the first flight of the mammoth C-5 transport when he was in first grade. B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers, which refuel airplanes in flight, have been in the inventory for more than four decades.
By Richard Lardner
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 404 Comments
- Like Teddy said,,Talk softly,,and carry a big stick!
Personally I believe Teddy meant "don''t be rattling your sabers at everyone but be prepared to back up your words with a strong military". - Reply to this comment
- Report: FEMA Spent Millions Fraudulently
Prime example of gov''t spending while the AF is crying po'' mouth!! Hey darkmeat did you read this? - Reply to this comment
- He does offer hope,,,but I still think we are not ready for a "Obama" to be president. We had another president that offered hope,,,and they killed him.
We''''ll see how this works out.
This is my last post(tired),,enjoyed talking with you. Have good night! I will stay to look at your answer,,but may not respond. ,,I''''m beat!
I''''ll catch you another day! Be good! Be well!
They have always taken out the messengers of hope. But that does not mean that we should abandon the message. Hope is what keeps you and I going. Without that we are nothing. There is no point is going on. If we have given up hope, then we have lost. I refuse to give up.
Have a good night. I look forward to seeing you on the board again soon.
Be well and take care.
dscott407 - Reply to this comment
- You are right again slim. But Obama is boasting a "message of hope." That seems to be one of the cornerstones of his whole campaign. The rest are just giving us politics as usual. It''''s going to be interesting to say the least.
Posted by dscott407
He does offer hope,,,but I still think we are not ready for a "Obama" to be president. We had another president that offered hope,,,and they killed him.
We''ll see how this works out.
This is my last post(tired),,enjoyed talking with you. Have good night! I will stay to look at your answer,,but may not respond. ,,I''m beat!
I''ll catch you another day! Be good! Be well! - Reply to this comment
- AAHH,,,,Wisdom!,,,,thats in a very low quantity in Washington nowadays.
And the new crop doesn''''t offer (wisdom) any hope either.
Posted by slim1h2o
You are right again slim. But Obama is boasting a "message of hope." That seems to be one of the cornerstones of his whole campaign. The rest are just giving us politics as usual. It''s going to be interesting to say the least.
We may just have to wait and see.
But you are also correct. There is a total lack of wisdom in Washington. I don''t think any of them see beyond their own lust for power and wealth. Again that''s just me. - Reply to this comment
- They knew better. And the had the wisdom to know the difference.
Posted by dscott407 at 10:03 PM : Feb 19, 2008
AAHH,,,,Wisdom!,,,,thats in a very low quantity in Washington nowadays.
And the new crop doesn''t offer (wisdom) any hope either. - Reply to this comment
- Good or bad.
Posted by dscott407 at 09:51 PM : Feb 19, 2008
Well,,yes,,But what I think Teddy meant,,was to stay out of other countries business,,,but be well protected! In other words,,a strong military!
Posted by slim1h2o
I think that you are right on the money. That''s exactly what I think he meant. It''s too bad our so called leaders of today don''t have the wisdom that our leaders of yesterday had. They knew better. And the had the wisdom to know the difference. - Reply to this comment
- Good or bad.
Posted by dscott407 at 09:51 PM : Feb 19, 2008
Well,,yes,,But what I think Teddy meant,,was to stay out of other countries business,,,but be well protected! In other words,,a strong military! - Reply to this comment
- "Well that''''s a shame. He sounded like he was really in to you." posted by dsott407
Hahaha, I probably scared him away!
Ya know there is something about the name "AJMarine" that I really like, it really TURNS ME ON!
Okay, I''ll stop now. I don''t want to scare him too badly.:) - Reply to this comment
- That won''''t work! Like Teddy said,,Walk softly,,and carry a big stick! Now that works! For me anyways.
Posted by slim1h2o
I agree slim, but when you swing that stick, we should be prepared for the damage it can do. I think that we may be dealing with the consequences of swinging that stick. There are always repercussions. Good or bad. - Reply to this comment
- It is better to have lost in love, than to have never loved at all.
Posted by dscott407 at 09:40 PM : Feb 19, 2008
It is better to give,, then to recieve.
Except,,in the matters of love.
+ - Reply to this comment
- It is better to have lost in love, than to have never loved at all.
- Reply to this comment
- You are right, but with that amount of $$$ it sounds more like a global take over than it does national defense. But that''''s just me.
Posted by dscott407 at 09:25 PM : Feb 19, 2008
That won''t work! Like Teddy said,,Walk softly,,and carry a big stick! Now that works! For me anyways. - Reply to this comment
- That would have been nice but he went away and left me!
Posted by erasmus6 at 09:23 PM : Feb 19, 2008
Love lost,,and forlorn,,,, He''s walking down that dimly lit sidewalk,,,whistling that Billy Joel song,,flipping that quarter. - Reply to this comment
- "BTW are you supposed to be getting busy with AJMarine??" posted by dsott407
That would have been nice but he went away and left me!
posted by erasmus6.
Well that''s a shame. He sounded like he was really in to you.
Just *** around. Please don''t take it personally. - Reply to this comment
- If ToolMangler is coming I had better leave too. He''s madly in love with me and will be very upset when he finds out that I propositioned AJMarine!:)
- Reply to this comment
- 381 F-22 Raptors to pay for if you really need them?
Posted by dscott407 at 09:14 PM : Feb 19, 2008
I guess,,,, If we need them,,,we need them! Of course our grandkids will be paying for them though!
You are right, but with that amount of $$$ it sounds more like a global take over than it does national defense. But that''s just me.
Posted by slim1h2o - Reply to this comment
- "BTW are you supposed to be getting busy with AJMarine??" posted by dsott407
That would have been nice but he went away and left me! - Reply to this comment
- 381 F-22 Raptors to pay for if you really need them?
Posted by dscott407 at 09:14 PM : Feb 19, 2008
I guess,,,, If we need them,,,we need them! Of course our grandkids will be paying for them though! - Reply to this comment
- "BTW way. It''''''''''''''''s been over an hour now, and we haven''''''''''''''''t been insulted yet." posted by dscott407
If you are missing being insulted, I am pretty good at it.:)
Posted by erasmus6
No I don''t miss it, I''m just surprised that I/we haven''t been.
BTW are you supposed to be getting busy with AJMarine?? - Reply to this comment
