Michael Auslin: White House F-22 cuts mean hollow Air Force
By: Michael Auslin
OpEd Contributor
June 26, 2009
When it comes to air superiority, America may be stuck on the tarmac. In April, the Pentagon decided to cap the number of F-22 Raptors, the world's most advanced fighter plane, to 187. Yesterday, the White House indicated it would veto the National Defense Authorization bill if it contains more money for the planes.
Air Force officers are adamant that this number is too low to give Americans an advantage. While 187 of the world's most advanced aircraft may seem like an overwhelming amount of force, that total figure is far from the actual number of planes that could be brought to bear in a conflict.
Only around 130 F-22s will be slated for combat. Earlier models are maintained for training and testing purposes, and upgrading their avionics and capabilities to those of the front-line fighters is an extremely expensive and time consuming process. Among these combat ready planes, only 70 to 80 percent will be ready to fly at any given time.
Factoring in this rate drops a fleet's numbers down to somewhere around 100 planes. Close to 50 percent of the "total force" has been lost, and we haven't even divided them into squadrons, or placed them in far-flung locales.
Not all the 100 mission capable planes will be available to launch, either. Operations planners need some leeway in order to have spare aircraft available in case more airplanes break, and to respond to changing conditions.
Prudent planners will commit only 75 percent of the available planes to fly at any given time. That drops America's premier flying force down to at most 75 F-22s ready to fight, and possibly fewer.
Except in the direst emergency (think Pearl Harbor) no commander is going to order all his planes into the air at one time. Rather, as one wave is attacking, another is returning to base, and a third wave is preparing to depart.
Depending on distances and resupply time, even more waves may be required to control the air without gaps in coverage. Thus, our fleet of 75 scheduled, mission capable, combat coded F-22s breaks down to approximately 20 planes globally available to be over the battlefield and in the fight at any given time.
Spreading these fighters thin among bases from Virginia to Mexico to Alaska means that even their stealth features and stronger fighting capabilities won't make much of a difference.
Think about it: The Air Force is retiring nearly 250 F-15s and F-16s just as Russia and China are deploying hundreds of far more advanced fighters. Potential rivals are also deploying sophisticated surface-to-air missiles and exploring cyberwarfare to degrade America's technological edge.
Critics will argue that the approximately $200 million dollar price tag per plane is too expensive in an age of irregular warfare. But it may be more costly to lose battles because of a lack of air superiority. Besides, unit costs can be reduced by future purchases and by developing a specialized version for the allies we'd be fighting alongside.
Other critics will assert that our air superiority will be ensured by a new fighter, the F-35. Maybe so, but the F-35 won't deploy until 2015.
Without command of the air, U.S. naval and land forces may find themselves hamstrung in a crisis. Debate needs to begin with the realization that 187 is not nearly the number it seems at first glance.
Michael Auslin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
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