USAF Woes

[Kirkhill]

More on the above- This could be a game-changer:

F-35 Too Expensive: US Air Force Might Buy 72 New F-15 or F-16 Fighter Jets

Diplomat

And in one year's time there will be a new administration in Washington - with different outlook, values and priorities than the Obama administration.  And I say that confidently without regard for whether the new administration is Democrat or Republican.  I am strongly convinced that Obama is an outlier administration.

 

[a_majoor]

Buying a wing of F-15's and retiring the highest flight hour ones in the current fleet might make good sense, the F-15 has a far different niche than the F-35. This also helps keep things going given the extreme rarity of the F-22, so the USAF continues to have a long range, heavy fighter with a wide range of capabilities in the mix.

Of course the new Administration will have something to say about this...

 

[Edward Campbell]

And in one year's time there will be a new administration in Washington - with different outlook, values and priorities than the Obama administration.  And I say that confidently without regard for whether the new administration is Democrat or Republican.  I am strongly convinced that Obama is an outlier administration.

I'm not so sure ...

Sequestration, the programme that has brought the USAF, indeed all of DoD to its current state of fiscal woe is a bipartisan congressional notion. President Obama wants to spend, including on the military, but the cupboards are bare. America's fiscal problems go back, to Kennedy, at least, and, arguably, all the way back to Roosevelt. The last president to have had anything like a "grip" on the budget was Eisenhower (1953 to 61) and he had a sui generis situation.

 

[Kirkhill]

I accept your point on sequestration.  I merely suggest that Obama is working with a different set of filters than most other administrators.  Consequently he pushes where others fail to push and accepts where others would resist.  The net effect is a differing emPHAsis  on a different sylLABle.

 

[Edward Campbell]

I accept your point on sequestration.  I merely suggest that Obama is working with a different set of filters than most other administrators.  Consequently he pushes where others fail to push and accepts where others would resist.  The net effect is a differing emPHAsis  on a different sylLABle.

Fair enough, but maybe it's because he is only the second POTUS forced to face America's spending problems square on. Every post 1960 president has spent more than the US earned ... it finally caught up with George W Bush and, now, it defines Barack Obama's administration.

 

[Kirkhill]

Fair enough, but maybe it's because he is only the second POTUS forced to face America's spending problems square on. Every post 1960 president has spent more than the US earned ... it finally caught up with George W Bush and, now, it defines Barack Obama's administration.

13 months to find out I guess.  Many political lifetimes - but the blink of an institutional eye.

 

[CougarKing]

The battle for the A-10's survival continues:

Medium.com

The U.S. Air Force Is Trying to Trick Us Into Getting Rid of the A-10
No, retiring the tried-and-true attack jet is not the key to acquiring new stealth fighters

Literally for decades—since well before the 1991 Iraq war—the U.S. Air Force has been trying to get rid of the A-10 Warthog close air support aircraft. The A-10’s spectacular performance in four wars in Iraq—twice—plus Kosovo and Afghanistan has frustrated these efforts.

In those conflicts, the A-10 outperformed all other U.S. aircraft in killing tanks and other vehicles and supporting infantry engaged in combat-at both very short—“danger close”—and longer ranges.

The A-10 has also excelled in combat search-and-rescue for downed pilots—such as for the pilot of the F-117 stealth fighter shot down in the Kosovo war—and in battlefield interdiction against conventional forces with modern air defenses, as well as the destruction of those enemy air defenses and shooting down enemy helicopters.

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[CougarKing]

Will the F-22 line ever be re-opened?

Fighter Sweep

Renewed F-22 Production A Non-Starter?
January 28, 2016
FighterSweep Staff

Editor’s Note: We concur with many members of Air Force senior leadership when they’ve said capping the production of the F-22A Raptor was an incredibly poor decision. We all got excited when a past presidential candidate promised to re-open the line, extolling Lockheed-Martin’s decision to retain the tooling and materials as brilliant. We absolutely agree. One can always hope, but now Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James is calling that hope a non-starter.
Related Posts

The tooling and equipment needed to produce the twin-engine air-superiority fighter, which was barred from export because of its sophistication, remain in storage along with video instructions for various assembly processes.

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Some retired and serving USAF officials have called ending F-22 production “the biggest mistake ever,” particularly as the aircraft sees combat action in Syria, and as Russia and China finalize development of competing fifth-generation combat jets. Former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney even pledged to restart F-22 production during his 2012 campaign.

Air Combat Command chief Gen Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle said in September that he “dreams” about the day F-22 assembly resumes, but admits it’s an expensive proposition. In 2010, a RAND study commissioned by air force placed the cost at $17 billion (2008 dollars) for 75 more aircraft.

“The very prospect of re-opening that [F-22 line] is pretty much a non-starter,” says James. “We’ve got what we’ve got. We’ve got the F-35 coming, approaching initial operating capability. It’s not the same, but they will complement one another and we’ll have to go forward as is.”

 

[CougarKing]

Budget for other planes that affects the F-35 acquisition:

Air Forces Times

Air Force budget plans to buy more planes, but at expense of F-35
By Phillip Swarts, Air Force Times 11:39 a.m. EST February 9, 2016

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The Air Force wants to buy 43 new F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighters, 15 KC-46 Pegasus tankers, 24 MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft and about a dozen new C-130J airframes.

But service leaders said budget cuts have forced them to defer some purchases of F-35s and upgrades to fourth-generation aircraft.

According to official documents, the Air Force is deferring purchasing five F-35s planned for FY2017. The Air Force variant of the aircraft, the F-35A, is estimated to cost about $100 million per unit, according to Lockheed Martin.

The high cost of the aircraft is forcing Air Force leaders to make decisions between their various platforms. The service is starting work on the Long Range Strike Bomber — designed to eventually replace all B-52s and B-1s — and also wants to purchase more KC-46 tankers.

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[OldSolduer]

What the...

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2015/10/05/air-force-dental-technician-accused-witch/73398304/

Was she made out of wood....or very small rocks?

 

[Jarnhamar]

Was she made out of wood....or very small rocks?

  She claims they then accused her of being a witch.

No but she was kind of caught throwing patients old teeth in a pot of chicken blood  ;D

 

[MarkOttawa]

Two more: F-35A, LRSB, ICBMs:

Bomber Money Down, Missile Money Up In Budget Request
http://aviationweek.com/defense/bomber-money-down-missile-money-budget-request

‘We Simply Can’t Afford’ What We Need: Air Force 17 Budget
...

...
http://breakingdefense.com/2016/02/we-simply-cant-afford-what-we-need-air-force-17-budget/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[CougarKing]

If they had to pick one of the 3 bomber fleets to retire, perhaps they should just retire the B-2 early since that's what the B-21 was meant to replace anyways:

Defense News

US Air Force: Old Systems Must Retire as New Ones Emerge
Lara Seligman, Defense News 1:42 p.m. EST February 26, 2016

ORLANDO, Fla. — As the Air Force looks to bring on next-generation fighter and bomber platforms, commanders are grappling with what this future technology means for the service’s legacy fleets.

The Air Force has tried unsuccessfully to decommission the A-10 attack plane to make way for the F-35 joint strike fighter. Now, one top general says the service will need to retire one of its three existing bomber fleets in order to support the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B), officially designated the B-21.

It’s not just the Air Force’s limited resource pool, both in cash and in manpower, that’s driving this decision, commanders emphasized here during the Air Force Association’s air warfare symposium. At some point, legacy airplanes just can’t keep up with new capabilities and new threats.

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[PuckChaser]

If they're still looking at 80-100 B-21s, they could boost to 120 airframes and replace both the B-1B (aging) and the B-2. Probably significant yearly cost savings in supporting only 2 fleets of bombers, with one of them brand new.

 

[CougarKing]

Defense News

US Air Force Faces 500 Fighter Pilot Shortfall
Lara Seligman, Defense News 1:35 p.m. EST March 9, 2016

WASHINGTON — The US Air Force is about 500 fighter pilots short of the total requirement, a deficit that is expected to grow to more than 800 by 2022, top service officials warned Congress.

Air Force officials blamed the shortage on recent reductions in active duty fighter and fighter training squadrons due to budget cuts, according to written testimony submitted to the Senate Armed Services subcommittee March 8.

The service was forced to rebalance its fighter force structure in 2012 due to severe fiscal constraints, slashing the force by 100 aircraft, according to the statement. There are currently 54 squadrons in the Air Force, significantly less than the 134 fighter squadrons that existed during the Gulf War in the early 1990s.

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[CougarKing]

I wonder if the C17 engine maintenance costs for the RCAF, RAAF, RAF and other C17 user nations turned out to be similarly high:

Defense News

Air Force paying too much for C-17 engine maintenance, report says
Phillip Swarts, Air Force Times 5:03 p.m. EDT March 14, 2016

The Air Force is paying for engine maintenance for the C-17 Globemaster III without any idea if it’s getting a fair price, a new watchdog report said.

“Air Force officials awarded the…base contract without obtaining sufficient data to determine whether the Air Force purchased the F117 engine sustainment services provided by Pratt & Whitney at fair and reasonable prices,” said the investigation by the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General.

The exact amount the Air Force paid for the sole-source contract between fiscal 2012 and 2014 is redacted, but the IG’s report says that it’s in the billions.

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[tomahawk6]

There is pressure on the USAF to reopen the F-22 production line to build another 75 or so F-22's at an estimated cost of $17b.The USAF would rather put the money into its new 6th gen fighter program.I would think reopening production would be the way to go and not just for another 75 aircraft.We dont even have the F-35 available in any large numbers.The USAF budget will have to be increased for more F-22's,the F-X and A-10 follow on.The global threat hasnt gone away with IS,Russia and China.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-wants-on-time-f-x-not-more-f-22s-422950/

 

[jmt18325]

There is pressure on the USAF to reopen the F-22 production line to build another 75 or so F-22's at an estimated cost of $17b.The USAF would rather put the money into its new 6th gen fighter program.I would think reopening production would be the way to go and not just for another 75 aircraft.We dont even have the F-35 available in any large numbers.

Exactly - the idea that the 6th generation fighter is going to be here soon or anywhere close to on time is laughable, given...every other current and previous aircraft development program...ever...anywhere.

 

[FSTO]

Cdr Salamander weighs in:

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.ca/2016/03/stoned-on-joint.html

A couple of observations;

“I’m not saying they’re bad. I’m not saying they’re good. I’m just saying they’re hard,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said Thursday. “You ought to think really hard about what you really need out of the sixth-generation fighter and how much overlap is there between what the Navy and the Air Force really need.”


From the Cdr:
From day one, people warned that the F-35 as a joint program was not going to work, that it would make the F-111 program look like a success.

Of course, they were right. There are successful joint programs, C-130, F-4, A-1, OV-10, etc - but they did not start out that way. Other services just adopted what another built.

CNO on working with the USAF on a 6th gen fighter:
Asked Thursday whether the Navy would work with the Air Force to buy a new sixth-generation aircraft, Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said, “It’s really too early to make a conclusive statement in that regard.”

A final warning from author of the blog:
Just say "No." Wish the USAF well, but go our own way. Let them create the unaffordable with lasers and no-heat engines that might fly by 2045 - but lets move forward on something that we can afford more than one squadron of and start production in 2020. Something that actually meets the needs of the Fleet and Marines ashore.

 

[Kirkhill]

The F-35: The Central Planner's Solution.