NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Air Force’s top officer yesterday expressed confidence the F-35A will reach its initial operational capability (IOC) goal of 2016, as long as the program receives the appropriate funding between now and then.
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| Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh |
“We’re gonna get there by IOC,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said yesterday during his state of the Air Force address at the Air Force Association’s (AFA) annual conference here. “I’m confident we’re gonna get there….assuming we have consistent funding between now and then.”
The Defense Department’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) said in May it estimated IOC for the Air Force variant F-35A between August and December 2016. It also set December 2015 as an IOC goal for the Marine Corps’ F-35B variant and February 2019 for the Navy’s F-35C variant. Considered the most expensive weapons program in history, DoD in May estimated the total F-35 price tag for 2,443 jets for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps at $391 billion (Defense Daily, June 3). The F-35 is developed by Lockheed Martin [LMT] with subcontractors Northrop Grumman [NOC] and BAE Systems.
Welsh also said the United States will not be able to compete with advanced air defenses in the future without the F-35, a message to those who suggest the Air Force consider cheaper fighter jet alternatives to the F-35 in light of the jet’s high pricetag.
“The issue with F-35 is if we don’t have it, we can’t operate in the advanced air defense systems of the future. We can’t do it,” Welsh said.
The Air Force has no plans to furlough civilian employees in fiscal year 2014, Welsh said, as long as a potential continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government funded at FY ’13 levels doesn’t last longer than six months. Welsh added the Air Force lost 8 million man hours to furlough in 2013. DoD this summer furloughed roughly 650,000 non-military personnel for six days (Defense Daily, Aug. 7). FY ’13 ends Sept. 30.
Welsh also said he expected commercial airlines to start hiring Air Force pilots by the end of 2013. Earlier this year, Welsh testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) he expected the Air Force to face a potential “mass” exodus of commercial airline pilots to retirement that could cause a run of the servie’s aviators to the commercial sector. Welsh said in his May testimony he expected sequestration and declining defense budgets to play a part as Air Force pilots, he said, have options and “didn’t join to sit” (Defense Daily, June 18).