Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
National Journal's CongressDailyPM
September 19, 2007
The advanced age of the military's aircraft and space systems could result in America losing the air dominance it has had since World War II, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said today. "If our adversaries believe we no longer have air dominance, they will kick our butts," Wynne told a Capitol forum. The secretary noted that the average age of the Air Force's aircraft in 1983 was 8 years old. By 2001, the average age was 23 and a half, he said.
Although the Air Force decided to cut 40,000 personnel to make money available to buy airplanes and space assets, "it's not working," Wynne said. The average age of the force is projected to be 26 and a half by the end of the current budget plan, he said. "This can't go on. At some time in the future, this will just rust out, fall out," Wynne said. "We need to find a way to recapitalize this force." The secretary's priorities for modernization started with replacing the KC-135 tankers, which average 46 years in age.
Wynne said his biggest fear is that a KC-135 would crash into the sea after a mechanical failure. With the only alternative being the few KC-10s, he would have to keep flying the old tankers despite the risk, he said. The Air Force is studying bids for a new tanker from Boeing and a team of Northrop Grumman and Airbus. Wynne said he is pushing his acquisition experts to finish by year's end but they are telling him the decision "could slide into January."
The Air Force's second priority is the combat search and rescue helicopter, CSAR-X. Competition on that program has been reopened after Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin protested the selection of Boeing's H-47. Wynne said he wants the selection completed in December. The third procurement priority is space. Wynne said all of the military satellites must be replaced within the next 12 years because they will run out of fuel. China's demonstration of an anti-satellite capability opens the question of should they try to protect the new satellites, he said.
Next is the need for a "fifth generation fighter," the F-35 or Joint Strike Fighter. None of the current fighters would be allowed to attack a well-defended city in a major war because they lack the F-35's radar-evading stealth, he said. In a briefing after Wynne's presentation, two experts from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments dropped their previous recommendation to cancel the massive program, which could cost $242 billion for 2,443 planes for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. But they suggested reducing the Air Force buy and perhaps eliminating the Navy version.
Wynne's final priority was a long-range bomber, which Congress ordered the Air Force to produce by 2018 to replace or augment the 50-year-old B-52s and the limited number of B-2 stealth bombers and supersonic B-1s.
-- by Otto Kreisher
September 19, 2007
The advanced age of the military's aircraft and space systems could result in America losing the air dominance it has had since World War II, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said today. "If our adversaries believe we no longer have air dominance, they will kick our butts," Wynne told a Capitol forum. The secretary noted that the average age of the Air Force's aircraft in 1983 was 8 years old. By 2001, the average age was 23 and a half, he said.
Although the Air Force decided to cut 40,000 personnel to make money available to buy airplanes and space assets, "it's not working," Wynne said. The average age of the force is projected to be 26 and a half by the end of the current budget plan, he said. "This can't go on. At some time in the future, this will just rust out, fall out," Wynne said. "We need to find a way to recapitalize this force." The secretary's priorities for modernization started with replacing the KC-135 tankers, which average 46 years in age.
Wynne said his biggest fear is that a KC-135 would crash into the sea after a mechanical failure. With the only alternative being the few KC-10s, he would have to keep flying the old tankers despite the risk, he said. The Air Force is studying bids for a new tanker from Boeing and a team of Northrop Grumman and Airbus. Wynne said he is pushing his acquisition experts to finish by year's end but they are telling him the decision "could slide into January."
The Air Force's second priority is the combat search and rescue helicopter, CSAR-X. Competition on that program has been reopened after Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin protested the selection of Boeing's H-47. Wynne said he wants the selection completed in December. The third procurement priority is space. Wynne said all of the military satellites must be replaced within the next 12 years because they will run out of fuel. China's demonstration of an anti-satellite capability opens the question of should they try to protect the new satellites, he said.
Next is the need for a "fifth generation fighter," the F-35 or Joint Strike Fighter. None of the current fighters would be allowed to attack a well-defended city in a major war because they lack the F-35's radar-evading stealth, he said. In a briefing after Wynne's presentation, two experts from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments dropped their previous recommendation to cancel the massive program, which could cost $242 billion for 2,443 planes for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. But they suggested reducing the Air Force buy and perhaps eliminating the Navy version.
Wynne's final priority was a long-range bomber, which Congress ordered the Air Force to produce by 2018 to replace or augment the 50-year-old B-52s and the limited number of B-2 stealth bombers and supersonic B-1s.
-- by Otto Kreisher