The U.S. Air Power’ new fighter plan requires a 30 % improve within the variety of fighter plane in service, which has been criticised as unrealistic by each analysts and former service leaders attributable to acute funding shortages. “USAF requires 1,558 manned, whole combat-coded plane stock fighters to attain low danger to resourcing, executing, and sustaining fight operations,” the service made clear in a current report back to Congress, including that its aim “over the following 10 years is to extend general fighter capability and functionality by revitalising the legacy fighter fleet via elevated sustainment funding … and procuring F-15EX, F-35A, and F-47.” Retired Lieutenant Normal David Deptula, who had lengthy criticised the contracting dimension of the fleet, noticed that though “a 30 % improve is an efficient begin,” the Air Power had fielded 134 fighter squadrons in 1990, in comparison with a brand new aim of simply 65 squadrons, and a present fleet of simply 54 presently serving.
The Air Power has more and more struggled to maintain its fighter fleet, with the service’s price range being more and more thinly stretched between a number of main applications, lots of which have suffered from important price overruns. The potential of additional cuts for Fiscal 12 months 2026 to scale back fighter procurements to only 24 F-35As was raised as a risk by the U.S. Division of Defence, on account of excessive budgetary strains because the sixth technology F-47, enhanced fourth technology F-15EX, and applications such because the Sentinel intercontinental vary ballistic missile, B-21 bomber, and B-52J improve package deal all compete for restricted funding. The pressing want to switch the E-3 airborne early warning and management system, and to replace the tanker fleet with extra trendy and survivable plane, have additional strained funding, which not solely limits the opportunity of increasing the fighter fleet, but additionally raises questions concerning the service’s means to maintain present fighter numbers.
A major issue within the Air Power’s incapability to area a bigger fighter fleet has been the main price overruns affecting the F-35 program, which is the one fighter the service has procured in important numbers over the previous 15 years. Whereas the F-35 was initially supposed to have comparable operational prices to the F-16, permitting the Air Power to obtain near 1800 of the fighters, its lifetime prices are by some estimates near double these of an F-16. Other than the problem of prices, the F-35’s upkeep necessities have additionally resulted in very low availability charges inside the fleet, that means as extra squadrons transition to the F-35, the proportion of fighters within the fleet which can be fight prepared will proceed to fall.
The F-35’s shortcomings resulted in a deep reduce to procurement numbers, from a deliberate 110 fighters per yr to only 24-48 per yr presently. Financing the fighter’s main overruns in procurement and operational prices required the Air Power to considerably contract its general fleet, retiring a number of hundred fighters forward of schedule and with out replaacement. Responding to the problems attributable to this system, lawmakers and Air Power officers to allude to the opportunity of procuring an enhanced variant of the Chilly Struggle period F-16, which the service ceased to accumulate in 2005, in what would look like a determined measure to maintain up the service’s numbers, increase the fighter fleet’s common availability charges, and decrease common sustainment prices. Though the Air Power has sought to economise by retiring ageing F-22 fighters, which have a few of the highest sustainment prices and lowest availability charges within the fleet, such efforts have persistently been blocked by lawmakers.
The place the F-35’s excessive sustainment prices precipitated a significant contraction within the fleet, the F-47’s prices are anticipated to be a number of instances increased, and are anticipated to pressure an additional important contraction in fighter numbers. This system has seen its growth fall considerably behind rival Chinese language fighter growth efforts, whereas efforts to modernise and tackle excellent points with the fifth technology F-35 have continued to face severe delays, which have raised points concerning the sufficiency of frontline items’ high quality, as properly a their numbers.
One response to prevailing points has been for the Air Power to contemplate technique of adapting its new B-21 bombers set to enter service within the early 2030s to permit them to contribute to air-to-air operations, and thus partly make up for shortfalls within the fighters fleet. The Air Power has resorted to different at instances excessive measures to scale back sustainment prices, together with considerably chopping flight coaching hours for fighter pilots, leading to Chinese language pilots now coaching within the air significantly longer per yr than their American counterparts. Whereas the way forward for the U.S. Air Power fighter fleet stays extremely unsure, the likelihood for a big growth, and even for sustainment of present numbers, stays extremely restricted.
