Acquiring more fuel and energy efficient weapons platforms needs to play a greater role in Air Force procurement to reduce long-term costs, a top energy official for the service said yesterday.
The Air Force has begun using energy as a “key performance parameter” requirement in assessing new acquisition programs, but balancing capabilities with fuel and energy costs remains difficult, Kevin Geiss, the deputy assistant secretary for energy, said.
“We do need to get more into the acquisition and technology side to ensure that we’re looking for energy efficiencies and improvements in productivity. That is one of the tall polls in the tent,” he said at a breakfast hosted by the Air Force Association.
“At the end of the day, it’s capabilities that you are trying to achieve with a weapons system,” he said. “And you need to ensure you’re achieving those capability requirements while still trying to achieve energy efficiencies. That’s a challenge.”
Geiss said he expects the F-35 to eat up a sizable chunk of the Air Force’s fuel budget once it enters the fleet and could rival the airlift and refueling fleet, which currently accounts for the most at 33 percent of fuel costs.
“When we replace our current generation aircraft with the F-35 and you look at the wedge of fuel consumption that that’s going to put out there, the F-35 is going to use a significant amount and may be a big competitor for our mobility fleet,” he said.
Geiss estimates that by the end of this year the Air Force will have spent a total $9 billion on energy–$1 billion more than last year. Eighty-four percent of that cost goes to operating aircraft, he said, adding the Air Force consumes about 2.5 billion gallons of fuel annually.
Geiss said the Air Force is prepared over the next five years to buy half of its domestic jet fuel needs as synthetic or alternative fuel blends.
“By doing this, our Air Force will be better protected from fuel-price volatility and we will be purchasing a larger portion of our fuel from domestic sources,” he said.
“This gives us greater control of our destiny and makes us more adaptable and agile in defending our interests,” he said.
The Air Force will also rely on better technology such as the Advanced Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT) under development by the service that could be ready by the mid-2020s, he said. More fuel efficient engines would help cut costs, increase range and the amount of time deployed, and reduce the logistical complexities associated with aerial refueling, he added.