By Marina Malenic
The Air Force’s top civilian official yesterday acknowledged that the service’s tactical aircraft fleet will bear the brunt of the “strategic risk” being taken in the Defense Department’s proposed budget reshuffle as the air service prepares for dramatic changes in its arsenal.
“We’re not going to build the Air Force we thought we were going to build in 2000,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said during a press briefing at the Pentagon. “We see and understand the new threats and requirements that are coming at us, and we continue to respond to the warfighter’s need now while preparing for the future.”
Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month unveiled several groundbreaking budget proposals that would shift emphasis away from conventional weapons purchases to buying equipment that directly supports the kind of low-intensity irregular conflicts being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the major moves affecting the Air Force, Gates announced the proposed retirement of 250 tactical aircraft–primarily A-10s, F-15s and F-16s–and a termination of F-22 Raptor production at 187 aircraft.
Donley said yesterday that the retirements would “allow us to take some additional strategic risk” over the next several years.
“Given the threat environment and the current focus of our strategic interests, it is a good time to take that risk in the tactical aircraft force structure,” he said. The move would allow the Air Force to instead buy things like modern munitions, unmanned aircraft and other intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance enablers, Donley explained.
“It allowed us to reinvest both the dollars and the people into higher priority areas,” he said.
The president’s proposed budget would also fully fund planned modifications for the F-22, but would end its production after just four more aircraft.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, speaking at the same briefing, said service officials had wanted to purchase 60 more F-22s at a cost of about $13 billion.
“There is no air space between us and the Secretary of Defense on this, that while 60 airplanes were desirable, they were unaffordable,” said Schwartz.
Asked how the tacair industrial base would be affected by these spending shifts, Schwartz said a key issue would be funding for research and development on sixth generation fighters. He noted that Gates has asked the Air Force to investigate whether a new strategy is now needed.
“Part of managing the industrial base…is thinking through what you do with design teams and engineering talent…as programs ebb and flow,” the general said. “And I do think that’s a departmental imperative, and I believe the Secretary of Defense believes that too.”
While Donley recognized that “tough choices” were made, he hailed those as “necessary to continue evolving the Air Force.”