Joint Strike Fighter

Of the three top priorities, the JSF is the most vulnerable. The stealth, dual-role fighter continues to suffer ongoing scheduling and technical problems. Plans to begin regular training operations at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., have been postponed several times. Schwartz often points out that the Air Force’s F-35A land-based version is the least troubled of the three JSF variants. This hints that he would want to proceed with his version even if those for other service branches were canceled.

F-35As belatedly started to arrive at Eglin in July 2011. The base had half a dozen by mid-October. But J. Michael Gilmore, Pentagon operational test and evaluation boss, decreed that no one but a qualified test pilot could safely operate the fighters. As of January 2012, more than three years after operations were once scheduled to begin, not a single F-35A training sortie had been flown at Eglin.

The JSF is the most expensive weapon system in which the United States has ever invested. The program went from a projected $276 billion to a now-projected $623 billion for acquisition, operations, and support, according to the Government Accountability Office(GAO). The average cost per aircraft, the report states, has risen from $82 million to almost $95 million. Some analysts say the real-world cost per unit could reach $195 million or more. Ironically, JSF may be too big to fail. Air Force officials are confident it will move ahead despite fiscal woes.

Billed as the only other “fifth-generation” fighter – critics dismiss the term as a marketing tool – the F-22 Raptor has ended its production run. The 195th and last F-22 (counting eight prototypes) rolled out of the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta, Ga., on Dec. 13, 2011, and flew off to duty in Alaska. The Air Force is now adding new capabilities to the F-22 fleet, including synthetic aperture radar and the 250-pound small-diameter bomb. The F-22 also will receive the AIM-9X and AIM-120D air-to-air missiles.

To make way for the F-22, F-35, and remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) like the MQ-1B Predator, RQ-4 Global Hawk, and MQ-9 Reaper – everyone except the Air Force calls them unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – the Air Force has completed a retirement of some “legacy” fighters while retaining about 300 F-15 Eagles, 950 F-16 Fighting Falcons, and 350 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, serving in active-duty, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard squadrons. Plans to use the Global Hawk to replace the legendary U-2 “Dragon Lady” reconnaissance aircraft have had to be postponed because of difficulty finalizing a signals intelligence capability for the Global Hawk.

 

Light Air Support

The U.S. Air Force’s Light Air Support (LAS) program is in disarray following source selection of the Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano, also called the A-29B, a month after an unexplained decision to disqualify the AT-6 Texan II, also called the AT-6B, from consideration. Planemaker Hawker Beechcraft says it made two attempts to learn why the AT-6 was abruptly excluded. After that, it protested to the GAO to no avail, and after that it filed a lawsuit.

“We have followed the Air Force’s guidance and based on what we have seen, we continue to believe that we submitted the [more] capable, affordable, and sustainable light attack aircraft,” the company said. Despite its name the Texan II is manufactured in Wichita and is popular with the Kansas congressional delegation.

Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., an AT-6 supporter, said, “I have already demanded answers from the Pentagon on why they made this very unfortunate decision, and will continue to do so. This contract is critical both to our nation’s security and to jobs in Wichita.”

Hawker Beechcraft’s competitor, partner team Sierra Nevada Corporation and Embraer, who received a $355 million award to build 20 Super Tucanos, learned that the Air Force chose their aircraft on Dec. 22, 2011. But less than two weeks later the service suspended the program, saying it was responding to the Hawker lawsuit. Given the timing, it was apparent that the service was really responding to objections by Kansas lawmakers.

The LAS program is to support the Afghan air force, with the first aircraft delivery slated for 2014. The Air Force once hoped to acquire 100 light warplanes to be operated by U.S. special operations forces in counterinsurgency conflicts, but these plans were scaled down. In a separate development, lawmakers rejected a $17 million U.S. Central Command request for an in-theater evaluation of four counterinsurgency aircraft under the Combat Dragon II program.

Being excluded leaves the AT-6 with nowhere to go. Hawker Beechcraft built two AT-6 demonstrator airframes. The company has been conducting a highly visible flight and weapons demonstration for the past two years. There is currently no funding for further flight trials.