U.S. Air Force War Fleet Wearing Out

By Tom Vanden Brook
USA Today
Posted : Tuesday May 8, 2007
5:12:21 EDT
AirForceTimes

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. — The Air Force’s fleet of warplanes is the oldest ever and wearing out, running the risk of a catastrophic failure, according to the head of the Air Force’s fighting fleet.

Gen. Ronald Keys, who leads Air Combat Command, points to cracked wings on A-10 attack planes, frayed electrical cables on U-2 spy planes and worn turbine blades on B-1 bombers. The Air Force spends 87% more on maintenance to maintain a fleet that is 15% less capable than in 1996, Keys said.

“I’m very concerned that until we finally auger one in on takeoff, or over a city somewhere because a wing falls off, no one believes it,” Keys said.

The average age of an Air Force warplane is 24 years. Age is not a reliable indicator of an aircraft’s safety, said Christopher Bolkcom, a national security analyst at the Congressional Research Service. Some may have been sitting idle for years and have plenty of safe flying hours left.

It may be costly to maintain an older aircraft, but buying a new one can be more expensive, he said.

“Chronological age is only one measure of aircraft health,” Bolkcom said. “Age is not a safety issue.”
Arcing wires near fuel tanks recently forced the Air Force to ground its fleet of U-2 sp
y planes. It has 33 of the aircraft, which can fly higher than 70,000 feet, according to the Air Force.

The Air Force recently bought replacement wings for 132 A-10s.

“This is not about flash and dash,” Keys said. “I don’t want to write a letter, or have my successor write a letter, `Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith, your son or daughter are dead because the wing fell off on takeoff. We knew it was going to fall off, we just didn’t know when.’ That’s kind of what we’re getting down to.”

Keys Spoke On Other Topics:

Air Force planes switched to higher velocity rounds to kill insurgents fleeing coalition forces in Iraq. The Air Force also recently completed testing of a laser-guided bomb that can track moving targets.

“We’ve found that our adversaries are feeling very vulnerable out there, which they ought to,” Keys said. “Any time they get onto the roads, they drive very fast. We’re looking for weapons that can take out a car going 70 mph.”

About 8,000 airmen supply troops and fight on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. These duties were supposed to be temporary until the Army and Marine Corps could reorganize their forces. Now, the light infantry duties performed by Air Force personnel are limiting airmen’s work on other duties, he said. “It’s starting to cramp my style,” Keys said.