Posted on 09/18/2013 3:04:39 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Sequester may force USAF to retire entire fleets of aircraft
The US Air Force will likely have to cut entire fleets of aircraft to comply with the Congressional sequestration law, says a top service official. In order to retain a force capable of operating across the spectrum of operations, the USAF will have to sacrifice single-mission aircraft in order to preserve multirole machines.
The only way you really save money is to make entire weapons systems go away, says Gen Mike Hostage, commander of the USAFs Air Combat Command. That is so that the whole logistics train, the whole support infrastructure that goes with it goes away.
Though eliminating single-mission aircraft is the most efficient way to save money while preserving military capability, the problem is politics, Hostage says.
For example, the L-3 MC-12 Project Liberty aircraft has excellent capability, if funding was not an issue, Hostage says. Other single-mission aircraft that might be sacrificed include the Fairchild Republic A-10.
US Air Force
However, the Boeing F-15C fleet is likely to be preserved to some degree, even if total fleet numbers drop. The USAF is short on air superiority capability with its small fleet of 184 Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors, Hostage says. The Lockheed F-35 will be able to fill that role when used in conjunction with the Raptor, he adds, although the F-22 will remain the preeminent air superiority machine for the foreseeable future.
The USAF has to prioritise recapitalisation over modernisation, otherwise the service faces the unsavoury prospect of facing-off against enemy forces with 45-year old fourth-generation fighters in the future. No matter how you [modernise the capability], it is not tactically viable once you get to the middle of the decade, Hostage says. The USAF is screwed if it does not modernise with the F-35, he adds. But if the worst came to the worst and the F-35 were to be cancelled, the USAF would need 350 new-build Raptors to get to 2030, Hostage says.
The F-35 is expected to be able to operate across a wide spectrum of missions. In a perfect world, Id like to have 1,000 A-10s I could do close air support [CAS] with, Hostage says. I cant afford it. I cant afford the fleet I have now.
While it will be more expensive to do the CAS mission with the F-35 and perhaps not quite as impressive as the A-10 in that role, the stealthy fifth-generation fighter can perform the task, Hostage says.
Even the Boeing B-1 bomber or even the future Long-Range Strike Bomber will be able to perform the CAS role, he says. I will not lose what we have gained in understanding how to support the army in the tactical battlefield, Hostage says. That was the mistake we made coming out of Southeast Asia.
I am glad I wasn’t the only one thinking SALE. A10s work for me and I must have a supersonic jet or two plus a couple of choppers. Do we get a discount since we already paid for them through tax dollars?
Turn the A-10s over to the Army. They are the ones that need them anyway.
0bamas Secret $8 Billion Bribe To The Muslim Brotherhood
July 18, 2013 by Kris Zane
http://www.westernjournalism.com/obamas-secret-8-billion-bribe-to-the-muslim-brotherhood/
Pump money into naval air. They are the first line of defense. The Air Force is obsolete. So is the Army for that matter. The Marines should be the size of the Army and vice versa. Sorry Army/AF types but that is the way I see it.
Congressional sequestration law??? It's the OBAMA sequestration law. EVERYONE going forward, particularly Republican politicians, needs to make sure that the word "sequestration" is always preceded by the word "Obama".
My immediate thought, too. The USAF leadership couldn’t be more transparent if they were made of Plexiglass.
I dont suppose theyd consider defunding Al Qaeda instead?
The “Padlock the Statue of Liberty” Strategy
The US can afford to arm AlQuaida but not arm itself? mygosh
Exactly what percentage cut was made from the DOD??
Originally it was said to be 5%, but that must not be!
hussein is pleased his plan is working so well and so quickly.
“..I dont think Americans will have an appetite for war for some time..”
our Islamist enemies have been planning for years to bring the battle to the streets of the USA. If they succeed American taste buds may have a dramatic change.
Not only the A10 is questioned. Also the KC-10, the F-15C and CSAR helos!
http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20130916/NEWS/309160005
No, it becomes a hangar queen and there are numerous ops checks and inspections to perform, but it doesn't lose it's "airworthiness certificate".
" Once that happens you have to box the aircraft up, send it to the desert, its then rebuilt, flown, recertified and returned to service.
No, the maintenance crews or CLSS teams from the specific depot facility will come in and perform all necessary maintenance, inspections and ops checks in order to return the aircraft to flying status. In addition, a FCF (functional check flight) will be conducted by a specially qualified pilot to ensure that all systems are operating correctly.
"When Clinton was in office, he spent the spares money on non-military missions. Therefore they had insufficient engines, radios, radars, etc."
This has happened for as long as I could remember. Even during the 80s with Reagan we still had "Cann Birds". Nothing really new under the sun.
This article, IMHO, is ACC’s (aka the “Fighter Mafia”) attempting to keep all of their aircraft at the expense of the Republic’s security.
The General Mike Hostage, ACC/CC, failed to mention the last two, or is it three now?, Joint Operating Environment (JOEs) studies. These are unclassified studies signed off by all services that address security issues covering decades. In 2008, the JOE made a major shift in defense orientation when it stated that irregular warfare (aka terrorism, Iraq and Afghanistan) would be the predominate threat facing the US through 2025 because it was the only form of conflict that nations/non-nations who opposed the US could engage in and survive.
That report, again signed off by all the services, not just a major service component, meant that the majority of ACC’s aircraft are inappropriate for the threats facing us for the next 15 plus years. What good is a Mach-1 plus stealthy fighter with limited air-to-ground munitions loads in irregular warfare? Check the impact of the Mach-1 plus fighters with limited air-to-ground munitions loads in Vietnam as documented by the GAO and AF Historian reports.
As for the MC-12W Liberty Aircraft; it is the primary method of locating ground irregular warfare fighters. Without it ACC would have to operate more expensive AWACS and JSTARS aircraft to collect some of the same targeting data required by the F-35 to be effective. Its a “kill chain” issue.
IMHO, General Hostage’s remarks are nothing less than another attempt by ACC to absorb Special Operations and spend its Congressionally controlled monies on ACC projects. I saw it first in the mid 1970s and again in 1995. That year I had documentary proof in the form of an ACC internal briefing recommending that AFSOC become a numbered AF under ACC control. The notes page for the first briefing slide cautioned staff members NOT to discuss the briefing with AFSOC or SOF personnel at any level. Things got interesting when the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict forwarded the briefing with notes to me and others for comment and review.
It is a question of models not of secular powers. The Swiss one aint bad, the US constitution is best. Fail is fail, small or big. Abandoning custodies and responsabilifies to this or that makes absolutely no difference in cost, it is all the same retarded consciousness.
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