Gates seems to be ignoring the fact that the current Air Force aircraft are 1970s vintage - or older. F-15s have been disintegrating in mid-air, so there aren't many options. The russians and Red Chinese are building up their military and pose a very serious threat. Sophisticated weapons systems aren't produced overnight. Gates is being very short-sighted in his approach.
What’s the average age; in both years and hours of flight, of the F-16 and F-15 fleets respectively?
But here is the problem.
The F-22 is not a budget buster, it is a budget serial killer.
The program is choking the rest of the Air Force, yet senior AF leaders pursue it as like it is the only thing in the entire AF that matters.
That is killing the AF right now. Between that and high fuel costs, the AF is cutting EVERYTHING in order to pay for it.
When Gen Mosley and Sec Wynne testified before the House Armed Services Committee last winter, they could not make the case for more money - so they kept talking about cutting personnel. But, they really didn't know what they wanted in terms of the size of the force, whether to buy more C-17s, or answers to other questions. So the Chairman handed their a$$es to them (and rightly so).
Right now, the proposal is still to cut more troops in the AF (medical costs and personnel costs there and the leaders saw big savings). But, the "savings" that was taken by the cuts last year were grabbed up the Army, or eaten by increased fuel costs - so the AF not only gained nothing, it actually hurt itself. And this year's solution is.........more personnel cuts! These are enlisted, officer, and contractor cuts. But, the mission pressures are expected to not only continue, but increase. Airmen are supporting In-Lieu-Of Missions to the Army at a historic rate. Air Force pilots are flying so much they have to keep waiving safety regulations to keep them flying.