Average Military Aircraft Is 24 Years Old
During the Vietnam War,
the average age of aircraft used by the US Air Force was nine
years. Now, the average age is 24 years... with aircraft such as
the B-52H Stratofortress logging in at greater than 40.
"These are geriatric airplanes," said Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula,
a former F-15 fighter pilot who's now Air Force deputy chief of
staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Combat readiness has declined by 17 percent, Maj. Gen. Frank
Faykes said at a budget briefing in early February -- due, in part,
to "the aging fleet and our ability to get those airplanes in the
air."
Today, more than 800 aircraft -- 14 percent of the fleet -- are
grounded or operating under restricted flying conditions, he
said.
The age issue has alarmed the Air Force leadership, which is
pushing against rising budget pressures to modernize and restock
the fleet, according to the Wichita Eagle.
"It was a looming crisis," said Richard Aboulafia, an aircraft
analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, VA. "And now, because of
Iraq and Afghanistan, it's a looming disaster."
The Air Force contends it needs to be modernized with
state-of-the-art aircraft. Critics maintain that renovating the
current fleet will serve the same purpose to which the Air Force
counters with the fact that modern, next-generation fighters are
what are necessary for the US to maintain air superiority.
This is heavily underlined by the emerging threat of missile and
fighter development of countries such as China and Russia. Not to
mention the growing nuclear bomb threats of countries such as North
Korea.
Deptula's son followed in his father's footsteps and enlisted in
the Air Force. He now flies the same vintage F-15s Deptula flew in
1979.
The question is what's going to go wrong next," said the
three-star general. "We have never flown fighters this old. If
you're driving a 28-year-old car, you can expect some problems. And
28-year-old cars don't go flying around at 700 miles per hour and
pull 9 G's."
The F-15 was once the world's preeminent aircraft. The fighter
was built to fly at Mach 2.3 but now cannot exceed Mach 1.5 on
training missions to avoid over-stressing the aircraft.
Issues surrounding the dangers of flying aircraft past their
prime are studied by the Aging Aircraft Research Laboratory
developed in 2002 by the National Institute for Aviation Research
in Wichita. Lab director Dale Cope said the two most prevalent
effects of aging are corrosion and metal fatigue, caused by hour
after hour of changing air pressure on the aircraft structure.
Air Force Chief of Staff T. Michael Moseley has made replacement
of the 48-year-old Stratotanker one of his top priorities. Boeing
Co. and Airbus are competing for the potentially multi-billion
dollar contract to build a new tanker fleet.
Congressional leaders such as Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii,
the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee, told the
Eagle he plans to take a "hard look" at Air Force requests like
next-generation fighters such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning
II. But, Democrat-heavy Congress feels that funding troops takes
precedence over "costly acquisitions."