USAF Woes

[Loachman]

I had a few jets go under me in Germany as well, even when I was below our minimum cross-country altitude in order to minimize the chances of that happening.

I heard a "whoosh" on one occasion, but did not see anything. The other guy with me said "That's the closest that I've ever been to a Tornado". Me, thinking that it had passed us fairly close, said "How close was it?" Keith replied "I'm not really sure. I only saw the top of the vertical fin through the chin bubble".

 

[CougarKing]

And speaking of fighter jets:

Defense News

US Air Force Can’t Afford Its Fighter Jets Past 2021
Lara Seligman, Defense News 5:12 p.m. EDT May 23, 2016

WASHINGTON — The US Air Force will not be able to afford the fighter aircraft it needs after 2021 if the service’s current budget topline doesn’t change, according to the Pentagon’s latest 30-year aviation report.

As the armed services continue to tighten their belts, the Air Force is being forced to retire more aircraft than it procures. This means that fighter aircraft inventory will take a significant hit after 2021, and will continue to erode until it reaches its lowest level in 2031, according to the Pentagon’s annual aviation, inventory and funding plan for fiscal years 2017 through 2046.


Congress last year mandated the Air Force maintain 1,900 fighter aircraft in inventory beyond 2021. But the Air Force does not have enough money to meet that requirement, according to the report. The service currently has 1,971 attack aircraft in inventory, including A-10s, F-15s, F-16s, F-22s and F-35As.
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[CougarKing]

more Raptor restart proponents coming out:

Defense News

Welsh: F-22 Restart for Air Force Not 'A Wild Idea'
Lara Seligman, Defense News 12:07 p.m. EDT May 26, 2016

WASHINGTON — Although Air Force and industry officials have repeatedly dubbed reviving Lockheed Martin’s F-22 production line as a nonstarter, the service’s outgoing chief of staff said Thursday it might not be such a crazy idea after all.

Gen. Mark Welsh's comments marked the first time since Congress floated the idea last month that Air Force leadership has acknowledged an F-22 restart as anything but pie in the sky.

Lawmakers have condemned the decision to shut down the F-22 line ever since Lockheed terminated production almost five years ago. But the idea of an F-22 revival could actually be gaining traction this year, after the full House passed legislation that would, if approved by the Senate and signed into law, direct the service to study the possibility.

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[tomahawk6]

In a post GWOT budget there isnt enough money for the big ticket items of the USN and USAF.Something has to give.I have always been a supporter of whatever it takes defense budgets,but it may be time to think smarter.The threat posed by Russia,PRC and North Korea is very real and we need to maintain a strong national defense.The first casualty of this budget war should be the balanced budget.Maybe a national defense surcharge on all goods bought and sold in the country.

 

[CougarKing]

An unavoidable delay?

Defense News

Boeing's KC-46 Tanker Will Miss Major Deadline
Lara Seligman, Defense News 2:19 p.m. EDT May 27, 2016

Editor's note: This story was originally published at 2:07 p.m. EDT May 27, 2016.

WASHINGTON – Boeing’s KC-46 tanker program will miss a major contractual deadline to deliver 18 ready-to-go aircraft to the US Air Force next year.

Due to ongoing issues with the KC-46’s refueling systems, Boeing will not be able to deliver the 18 certified tankers to the Air Force as planned by August 2017, a major contractual obligation known as Required Assets Available, or RAA.

Instead of delivering the first aircraft in March 2017 and the 18th in August, Boeing will begin delivering tankers in August, with the final jet delivered in January 2018, according to Air Force spokesman Maj. Rob Leese.

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[MarkOttawa]

Be interesting to see how smoothly this USAF competition goes:

First T-50A Jet Trainer Makes Maiden Flight

The T-50A, Lockheed Martin’s entry for the U.S. Air Force’s T-X advanced jet trainer competition, completed its first flight test on June 2, the manufacturer said. The single-engine jet flew from Sacheon, South Korea, the site of development partner Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).

In February, Lockheed Martin announced that it will offer a new variant of KAI’s T-50 Golden Eagle for the USAF requirement for up to 350 training jets to replace the current Northrop T-38 Talon. It had earlier considered offering a clean-sheet design.

Unlike previous versions of the T-50, which KAI produces for the Republic of Korea Air Force, the T-50A has an in-flight refueling receptacle and an advanced cockpit with a single, large-screen display. The jet is intended to serve as a lead-in trainer for fifth-generation F-22 and F-35 fighters...

Should Lockheed Martin prevail in the competition, it would assemble T-50As at a facility in Greenville, S.C., which it is “currently standing up.” It faces rival proposals from the partnership of Boeing and Saab and another team led by Northrop Grumman, which have said they will offer clean-sheet designs. Raytheon and Finmeccanica will offer a variant of the twin-engine Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master for the requirement.

The USAF has said it expects to issue a request for proposals for the T-X program in December. The planned initial operational capability milestone of the new jet trainer is Fiscal Year 2024.
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2016-06-02/first-t-50a-jet-trainer-makes-maiden-flight

Mark
Ottawa

 

[dimsum]

I'm surprised that the USAF would even consider a non-American design for....well, anything.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Well, USN T-45 Goshawk is navalized BAE Hawk:
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/t45-goshawk/

And then there's the USMC AV-8 Harrier.

And USAF did buy B-57 (Canberra):
http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=1234

Which NASA is still flying:

http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/wb57/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[tomahawk6]

Buying foreign built aircraft wont fly with Congress.The Pentagon needs to really think outside the box for some acquisitions.I have long favored a fleet of surface effect ships and WIG aircraft for improved mobility of our ground forces.Something like the Caspian Sea Monster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Nu94khHoo

 

[MarkOttawa]

Even when foreign aircraft designs are selected if the acquisition is of any real size the planes are built in the US.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[CougarKing]

A disaster narrowly avoided?

Air Force Times

Missing flight data contributed to accident that made AC-130J unusable
Phillip Swarts, Air Force Times 10:51 a.m. EDT June 4, 2016


A lack of flight test data was a contributing factor in an April 2015 accident that led to an AC-130J nosediving 5,000 feet in an inverted position before the pilots could recover, according to an Air Force Accident Investigation Board.

The flight datacould have helped the pilots better understand the limits of the aircraft’s handling while performing tight maneuvers. But defense contractor Lockheed Martin declined to provide the proprietary information without a contract, and the Air Force decided not to purchase it, according to the report.

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[CBH99]

LockHeed Martin has some pretty big balls, and some pretty bad taste, in not providing that kind of information to the USAF given how much money it gets from the US DOD.

With-holding potentially valuable information about ANY of its products to the end user, after that user spends billions upon billions of dollars on that product, is pretty disingenuious.  (In my opinion anyhow.)

 

[MarkOttawa]

Tweet:
https://twitter.com/NATOSource/status/754033048811868160

@NATOSource

.@DanLamothe: "Currently, about 21% of all fighter pilot jobs in the @usairforce are vacant"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/07/15/a-stark-look-in-graphics-at-how-many-fighter-pilots-are-leaving-the-air-force/?tid=sm_tw

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

More on fighter pilot shortfall--more money?

Air Force leaders plan incentives to fix fighter pilot shortage

The Air Force is staring down a major shortfall in fighter pilots, and top brass has just laid out their strategy to fix the problem.

In a July 14 op-ed posted on Defense One, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and new Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said the shortage of fighter pilots is expected to grow from 500 to 700 by the end of fiscal 2016. This will leave the Air Force with "a 21 percent gap between what we have and what we need to meet the requirements of our commanders around the world," they said.

The shortage is especially worrying, they wrote, given that the Air Force is trying to balance historically low manning levels with increasing responsibilities such as the fight against the Islamic State, the war in Afghanistan, and bolstering allies in Eastern Europe and Asia.

"Make no mistake, this is a quiet crisis that will almost certainly get worse before it gets better," James and Goldfein said. "We have less margin for error when it comes to filling our cockpits and addressing personnel shortages."

James and Goldfein said the Air Force is giving a hard look at increasing the compensation of fighter pilots as part of their plan to shore up their ranks. Some pilots now can receive Aviation Retention Pay bonuses of up to $25,000 per year — or as much as $225,000 for pilots who sign up for the maximum nine additional years...
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/07/18/air-force-leaders-plan-incentives-fix-fighter-pilot-shortage/87245740/

Meanwhile:

Airlines' Hiring Could Negatively Affect Number of Military Pilots
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/07/18/airlines-hiring-push-could-have-negative-effect-number-military.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Eagles on and on:

Air Force works to keep older planes in air longer

First flown in the 1970s, the Air Force could potentially fly the aging F-15 Eagle into the 2040s, according to a top Air Force official in charge of fighters and bombers.

It’s another sign the Air Force may have to keep planes in the air years longer than originally planned while it flies the smallest and oldest fleet in its history...

The job to acquire, maintain and modernize more than 2,000 aircraft lands on the Fighters and Bombers Directorate at Wright-Patterson, a workforce of about 3,000 people across the country, said Brig. Gen. Michael J. Schmidt, who since April has been the directorate program executive officer...

The Air Force has started fatigue testing of the F-15 to determine if it can as much as triple the original life span, Schmidt said.

“We’re going to figure out through this fatigue testing process what things are breaking and how much do we have to invest to sustain that airplane to maybe three times the life cycle and then make some decisions on whether we can afford to do that,” Schmidt said.

One of the reasons the Air Force needs to fly the F-15 longer is because it bought far fewer F-22 Raptors meant to replace the F-15, an aviation analyst said. Another is a slower-than-expected pace to buy the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which the Air Force expects to declare ready to join the fleet later this year after years of delays and technical challenges.

Eventually, the F-35A will replace the A-10 and F-16...
http://okinawa.stripes.com/news/air-force-works-keep-older-planes-air-longer

Mark
Ottawa

 

[CBH99]

Almost sounds like Congress should allow/force the USAF to purchase new aircraft every year, the way they do with the US Navy.  (You want 12 Super Hornets?  Here's 16 of them...)

Would small annual buys not be hugely beneficial for the USAF?  I don't know about the F-15C, but does the USAF not buy F-16's annually? 

 

[MarkOttawa]

USAF has not bought F-16s or 15s for a while:
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-denies-seeking-more-f-16-or-f-15-combat-jets-419473/
https://warisboring.com/one-last-chance-to-buy-brand-new-f-16s-457ef7e3d0ba#.ligeqrvqi

Mark
Ottawa

 

[CBH99]

Ah.  I didn't realize the USAF wasn't getting any aircraft, despite newer & more advanced tranches coming out.  They should be selling their slightly older F-16C/D models to places like the UAE, and getting the F-16V or E/F models for themselves. 

 

[tomahawk6]

The Marines are taking F/A-18's out of storage.New purchases are on hold until the F-35 is fielded..

http://www.airplaneboneyards.com/davis-monthan-afb-amarg-airplane-boneyard.htm

 

[CougarKing]

Defense News

Air Force Boss: Faster F-35 Buy Rate Might Not Be Possible
Valerie Insinna, Defense News 7:54 a.m. EDT August 6, 2016

WASHINGTON — The head of Air Combat Command wants to see the US Air Force build up its inventory of F-35s quicker than planned, but its civilian head signaled Wednesday that it might not be feasible in the current fiscal climate.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle said he was concerned about the service’s current F-35 buy rate, which hovers in the 40s until fiscal 2021 when that number jumps up to 60. Carlisle stated he would like the Air Force to buy at least 60 aircraft per year in the near term to replace legacy aircraft that is aging out.

But in an interview with Defense News and sister publication Air Force Times, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said boosting the number of active-duty airmen is currently a bigger priority than ramping up the F-35 buy.(...SNIPPED)