08:28 GMT, October 16, 2008 The October issue of Air Force magazine carries a sobering article concerning the advancing average age of the entire Air Force fleet and what needs to be done to reduce it. The headline, "Needed: 200 New Aircraft a Year," says it all.
"The Air Force's aircraft have been flying, on average, for 24 years, representing the oldest fleet in the service's 61-year history," writes reporter Megan Scully who then gets to the heart of the matter - highlighting perhaps the most egregious example of the aging fleet, the KC-135. "Some aerial refueling tankers, in particular, date back to the 1950s, posing serious operational and maintenance challenges to an Air Force at war."
The article then offers minute detail - listing aircraft after aircraft - and the Air Force's estimate of its needs. The bottom line, the story says is a need for prioritization. "Without the extra $20 billion annually the Air Force has said repeatedly that it so desperately needs, where does the force spend its limited dollars?"
Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz offered the answer: "'We have said that it's the [next generation] tanker first,' Schwartz said. "That is the appropriate first priority.'"
In other words, the Air Force needs a new tanker now. Unfortunately, as has been so often reported, the tanker competition has been delayed, which was the wish of original loser of the competition, the Boeing company.
This has exacerbated a problem that the article points out is getting high level notice. "Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), second-ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, likewise expressed concerns about the age and operational stress on the tanker fleet.
"'We're asking an awful lot of those young aviators to, night and day in any place in the world, roll them out, take them down that runway, take them off, hope and pray to come back with a good, safe landing,' Warner said."
The question is, what is the most efficient way to deliver the most modern most capable tanker to the Air Force? In the original competition, the Air Force determined that Northrop Grumman's tanker met that test - rating it superior in four out of five major categories, with a tie in the fifth.
The Air Force is unlikely to ever get the 200 new aircraft it needs per year to reduce the age of the overall fleet, but in the case of the replacement tanker, Northrop Grumman is ready now to answer the call.
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