Posted on 03/05/2007 9:58:23 PM PST by Paul Ross
WASHINGTON -- At a time the nation is at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Air Force is battling another enemy: age.
The average age of military aircraft during the Vietnam War in 1973 was nine years. Today, the average age is 24 years, and venerable planes such as the KC-135 Stratotanker and the B-52H Stratofortress are well into their 40s, nearly twice as old as some of their pilots.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Things are much, much worse than we are being told.
As long as aircraft are continually checked and upgraded, then what realistic concerns might exist?
Bush has had how many years to rectify this problem?
Like 90+ % of them. Such as virtually all of the fuselage, wingboxes and wings etc. And that is what is now giving way, along with the electronics, which if you had read the article and not just the headline...you would already know the answer to your next question:
As long as aircraft are continually checked and upgraded, then what realistic concerns might exist?
We are headed into new and dangerous territory for attempting to maintain these craft. Many of which were never designed to be operated for lengthy time frames without replacement. Such as the F-16.
Hmmmmmmm. I thought the AF had life extension program(s) for the BUFFs that would extend them well into the 2020s.
Six full years. And his initial response upon getting in...was paradoxically after having campaigned promising to fix this...was to freeze procurement dollar increases to simple inflation levels.
The evidence is that when the Pentagon told him flat out that it needed about $200 billion...in constant 2000-level dollars (since greatly depreciated by inflation) he simply refused to believe it, and concluded they were either lying or that he could somehow stave off the day of reckoning until Hitlery gets into the White House.
Stress fractures to the airframes.
How would President Bush get the money for it? At the time, it was more important to cut taxes and I agree with him on that one.
I'm reading that the F-35As are due to enter the service next year. The F-16s should be able to hang on as a frontline fighter for 3 to 4 more years.
There are. But how good are they? No one really knows.
And then think about priorities and the deterrence factor. Do you really think that was a good idea?
When we had vastly more modern nd capable B-1Bs that Bush has instead forcibly retired half the fleet? The B-1B proved to the most versatile and effective bomber we have in the Iraq war. Yet it is being savaged in the budgets of the administration...while funding is devoted towards keeping the B-52H "maintained" supposedly. We'll see, I guess.
And just what will we have after 2020 do you suppose? H'mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
I remember we had a older model C-130 that had its wings fall off here in California. The airplane was a firefighting conversion and might have had excessive g forces applied which might have led to the catotropic failure. I worry that the aging B-52 may have similar problems. Especially since they have changed its mission to low level bombing.
One can never see the internal stress on metal.
It can fracture from inside out. I had that happen on an auto axle. Not a lot of fun.
These are aircraft. Think of the stress they endure.
At current and projected production rates, we will start making them next year! They are definitely not proved out yet. Think about autos and the first ones off the assembly line. This is worse. In all likelihood, the F-35 will not begin to enter the fleet in force until 2012. So whatever you are "reading" it just ain't so. The F-35 is indeed a part of the solution...but it isn't being prioritized and funded the way it needs to be.
And consider this evidence of lack of urgency by this administration: With the belated debut of the F-35 in miniscule numbers at the end of next year...what did the administration do? They have forcibly scheduled for complete termination of all production of the proven and viable F-22...(too costly they claim) ....the only real air superiority plane we have to repace the F-15. And potentially with navalizing, it could make a real replacement for the now-forcibly-retired-without replacement F-14.
Guess it (the F-14) wasn't "able to hang on as a frontline fighter for 3 to 4 more years."
Now the Navy is stuck with the "affordable" Super F-18.... planes noticeably way slower, way less range, and correspondingly less loitering capability...and no real equivalent to the capabilities of the Phoenix missile system. Translation: No real interception capability. Can't stop the new Russian supersonic cruise missiles or long-range backfire bombers they are selling to China.
The Tomcat could. But now its gone.
Could be the national epitaph.
Oh, I'm sure they'll be some new bomber that will be coming on line. And oh, I'm certain that our many future UAVs will be in place to swarm over the enemy defenses.
And furthermore...
"USAF is pushing a three-phase bomber plan, but the next new bomber is the centerpiece. The 2018 Bomber and Its Friends
Finally, after years of study, controversy, changes of course, and shifts of timetables, plans for a new Air Force long-range strike aircraft—a bomber—have come into focus. The goal: Have a powerful new system on the ramp and operational no later than the year 2018. "
...snip...
"The “2018 bomber” is but one part—the middle part—of a much broader long-range strike modernization program.
First comes the strengthening of existing aircraft. The Air Force will continue to fly many of its B-1, B-2, and B-52 bombers for decades to come, as each platform offers a unique set of strike capabilities. Planned improvements should keep these aircraft combat-ready into the 2030s."
-end snip-
http://www.afa.org/magazine/oct2006/10062018.asp
We may have some metal fatigue issues because the future planners didn't anticipate the extended flying over the Middle East. However, I'm sure we'll come up with the solutions and fundings for it.
1) The ones they haven't found ... yet.
2) The ones that require totally new manufacture of old parts in order to correct them.
3) The ones they've found, they've (somehow) acquired parts for, and that now have a band aid covering the lesion.
There is a whole lot of open space between last generation bombers, tankers, and second tier fighters and the unmanned wonder craft that many expect will make them finally obsolete.
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