F-35 fighter jet has advanced technology, but has high maintenance costs. Image source: U.S. Air Force
compiled by Wegelly
75-year-old U.S. Air Force is troubled by aging equipment and shrinking forces. The US "Defense News" website recently published a special report saying that in the past entire generation, the F-16 fighter played the backbone of the US military's air combat. As time goes by, the former leader of this similar fighter aircraft has become increasingly old. As of 2022, the average age of the US F-16 fleet is over 30 years old. The military tried to inject some vitality into them through technological upgrades, but many U.S. military generals admitted when talking about future plans that it is imperative to "replace blood" for the fighter troops, but they are struggling.
, including F-16, has an average service life of US Air Force fighter jets of 28 years, and many aircraft have been flying since the 1980s. In order to make the fleet "younger", the military advocates that at least 72 aircraft must be purchased each year, including the brand new F-35A and the F-15EX based on a mature design. In the fiscal year 2023 budget, the US Air Force applied to purchase 24 F-15EXs and 33 F-35As, while the US Congress promised to add $920 million to buy 7 more aircraft. The procurement scale of
is still lower than expected. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Richard Moore told Defense News that the biggest problem is that the F-35A is not delivered quickly enough. He said, "The moment without the F-16 will come sooner or later. We must seriously consider providing sufficient funds for fighter procurement to be ready to face such a prospect."
Moore revealed that the US Air Force is developing plans to predict demand for the next 30 years and clarify the priorities of different projects. Based on the “capacity required in 2054,” military researchers can work “reversely”, reversely deduce how long it takes to develop and equip these capabilities, and determine how much resources it takes to develop these capabilities.
fighter jets are difficult to match both the quality and quantity
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict prompted the US military to re-examine its military's allocation of troops in both major strategic directions in Europe and Asia-Pacific. In Europe, the U.S. Air Force plans to permanently deploy two F-35A squadrons, a total of 54 aircraft, at the UK's Lakenhes base. As more and more F-35As enter service, the aircraft will become the cornerstone of the U.S. in the Eurofighter formation.
"The current situation in Europe is extraordinary. How long will it last?" Moore said that the long-term prospects of F-35 in Europe are still undetermined, depending on several factors, most importantly the local security situation and how many aircraft can be purchased by the U.S. military. Currently, the US Air Force has three squadrons of F-16 on the European continent, two in Italy and one in Germany. When asked whether these old-fashioned fighters would be replaced with F-35A "one-on-one", Moore said "rotating deployment" could also be considered.
How the U.S. Air Force allocates its forces in hot spots depends on how fast it can acquire new aircraft. Heather Penney, a senior resident researcher at the Mitchell Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace, and John Venable, an aviation expert at the think tank "Heritage Foundation", pointed out that the US Air Force often fails to reach the "pass line" of "adding at least 72 new fighters each year." According to the latest budget, in 2023, the number of retired aircraft such as F-15, F-16 and F-22 will exceed the number of new F-35A and F-15EX, resulting in the reduction of US fighter jets from 1,850 to about 1,770.
"We not only need to shorten the service age of the aircraft, but also increase the total number." Penney said, "We are facing a global security environment that is different from the past. We must implement deterrence in the Pacific and Europe and achieve victory."
"Defense News" quoted a report from the Mitchell Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace" saying that the US Air Force lacks funds and shrinks its troops, and is not ready to fight with other major military powers. The agency warned that the actual combat capability of the U.S. fighter jet unit is below the book level. Excluding hundreds of aircraft used for non-combat missions such as training and testing, there are only more than 1,200 aircraft that can actually participate in the war; if considering that there are always some aircraft that need maintenance, this number will drop below 1,000.
"Mitchell Aerospace Research Institute" recommends that the U.S. Air Force significantly increase the number of F-35A purchases to 60 to 80 aircraft per year.In 2023, the US military originally planned to spend US$4.5 billion to purchase 33 of this type of fighter jets, and adopting a new plan means double the capital cost.
Technological innovation is defeated by political resistance
"spending money" alone is not enough to relieve the worries of the US Air Force. At a roundtable in August this year, Andrew Hunter, who is in charge of equipment acquisition in the U.S. Air Force, said that if the U.S. Congress does not approve the retirement of more old aircraft, the military will not be able to carry out appropriate modernization, especially the inability to free up manpower and logistics resources to serve new aircraft.
The US military and Congress have always had differences on eliminating old aircraft. The 2023 annual budget submitted by the military requires a 150 aircraft reduction in one go, including 15 E-3 early warning aircraft and 33 earliest batches of F-22 fighter . Congress strongly demanded the retention and upgrading of the F-22, and also intended to prevent the military from sending at least five E-3s to the "plane cemetery."
Andrew Hunter said that if pilots and service personnel cannot be liberated from old aircraft, the US Air Force's efforts to pursue "next generation air superiority" will be hindered. He stressed that if Congress is stubborn, military leaders will have to find a new balance.
is subject to political factors, and the US Air Force is forced to find another way, hoping to rely on new technologies to resolve conflicts. "Defense News" said that US Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Brown visited the Asia-Pacific region in August this year. He then revealed at a press conference on Pentagon that the military plans to allow drones with high autonomy to cooperate with F-35 and other manned aircraft to expand the combat range of manned fighters.
Brown said the airspace in the Pacific is very vast, and drones "can be sensors, jamming devices, weapons launch platforms" and "do not put crews at risk." Richard Moore said the U.S. Air Force hopes that these drones will have stealth capabilities to survive in high-threat environments. Drones must be fast and have a long range to keep up with manned aircraft and perform tasks based on independent decision-making when conditions permit.
The US military's active aircraft will be in service as long as possible. Tim Bailey, the U.S. Air Force F-16 program manager, said the ongoing life extension project could allow hundreds of F-16s to fly for another 20 years. The technology upgrade of the aircraft has not stopped. From the active electronic scanning array lightning to the new electronic warfare suite, it will continue to improve its comprehensive combat capabilities.
But this is just a temporary measure after all. "Defense News" said the U.S. Air Force faces increasingly severe challenges, behind which is the ripple effect caused by decades of delays. As the report of the Mitchell Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace Research, during the war that lasted for about 20 years in the Middle East, the U.S. military "had to do more with less money", and numerous key modernization needs have been shelved for too long, and the ability of fighter troops to win "high-end competition" is worrying.
Hiser Penney of the agency explained: "The recapitalization and modernization of the U.S. Air Force, which is of great significance to the U.S. Air Force, has been delayed for more than 30 years... We have been trapped in a conflict of low intensity and high tolerance. The Department of Defense and Congress have never seriously considered how to ensure that the Air Force can fight in a high-intensity competition environment."
Source: China Youth Daily Client
