Posted on 03/20/2012 8:16:55 PM PDT by U-238
The US Air Force has completed an analysis of alternatives (AOA) for its next generation ground moving target indication (GMTI) radar aircraft fleet, but top service officials say the service can't afford to implement the study's recommendations.
"The reality is there is not enough space to undertake a new start business-class ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] platform," USAF chief of staff Gen Norton Schwartz told the US Senate Armed Services Committee on 20 March. "We simply don't have the resources."
The USAF approved the study in January and forwarded it on to the US Department of Defense's office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) for review. The CAPE has to give its assent before the AOA is formally approved.
While the air force analysis calls for a mix of unmanned Northrop Grumman Block 40 RQ-4B Global Hawks and business jet-based ISR aircraft, Schwartz says the service will have to soldier on without a new manned platform. Instead, he says, the current Northrop E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) will have to do.
(Excerpt) Read more at flightglobal.com ...
This has the Obama administration cut backs written all over it.
The Air Force could have re-engineered the existing platforms, which that manufacturer proposed, or had an entirely new aicraft based on the new P-8 Posiedon for the US Navy, that Bosing was willing to design and build for the Air Force to their JSTAR specs and requirements for the same cost being proposed to re-engineer the existing fleet.
That sounded like the best path...but I am sure we will be a good while digging out of the Obama funk if we defeat him and replace him in 2012.
If we do not...we may not be able to dig out of what he intends for our military...just like he is doing to the economy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.