U.S. Air Force needs money

Monday, Feb. 25, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

The Air Force says it needs an extra $100 billion over the next five years — about one-sixth of the amount spent so far by the Bush administration in Iraq — if its planes are to remain reliable for all of the jobs they are being assigned to perform.

Many of the service’s tankers, bombers, fighters and cargo/troop carriers are aging, and not gracefully.

Yet the Associated Press reported last week that the Air Force is unlikely to receive any extra money. Reasons included a recession that could possibly last for years, a rising federal deficit and a growing aversion by Americans to higher taxes.

The current fleet of Air Force planes is collectively older than any in the service’s 60-year history, the AP reported. The news service interviewed Maj. Gen. Paul Selva, the Air Force’s director of strategic planning, who said if budget increases on the order of $20 billion a year for the next five years are not forthcoming, the Air Force may enter an era of uncertainty.

“What we’ve done is put the requirement on the table that says, ‘If we’re going to do the missions you’re going to ask us to do, it will require this kind of investment,’ ” Selva said.

In November a Missouri Air National Guard pilot was hurt after ejecting from his F-15 fighter, which came apart in midflight. The plane, designed to last for 4,000 flying hours, was still in use after 5,000 flying hours. Most of the Air Force’s F-15s and F-16s are way over the 4,000-flying-hours limit, with an average of more than 8,000 flying hours apiece.

It’s not right to put the lives of pilots, flight crews and troops in danger, and risk the completion of missions during wartime, by forcing the Air Force to use deteriorating planes. Congress should determine the true extent of the Air Force’s needs and prepare a budget that meets them.