In its day, the F-15 Eagle was the world’s premier air-to-air fighter. Now the venerable warbird is in the budget crosshairs, in danger of being shot down by congressionally-imposed spending caps.
At a House subcommittee hearing, Air Force officials confirmed the service is considering replacing the single-seat F-15C model with cheaper F-16s, equipped with upgraded radars.
The revelation quickly drew the attention of Arizona Rep. Martha McSally, who led a successful fight to stop the Air Force from retiring the A-10 “Warthog,” a much beloved ground attack plane that is still considered the most capable aircraft to perform close-air support for troops on the ground.
Air Force officials were just as quick to say the move to retire the F-15C was “pre-decisional” and likely wouldn’t happen until next year at the earliest.
“Is it official? I don’t think so,” said Maj. Gen. Scott West, director of current operations, who said the idea is to save money by minimizing the number of systems the Air Force operates. “Pre-decisional would be a good way to word that,” he said.
“Right now it’s planning, we haven’t made the choices yet,” said Lt. Gen. L. Scott Rice, Air National Guard director. “There about four or five different things, one of the options is retiring the F-15Cs and then replacing them with F-16s with upgraded radars.
“Those are still in planning choices, and we’re talking about those,” Rice said.
“Comparing the capabilities side-by-side, we all need to be careful,” McSally replied. “An F-16 with upgraded radar does not meet the same capabilities as an F-15.”
“I think we are getting beyond that,” replied Rice. “As we get into the digital age and we get to be systems of systems, those systems and how they integrate is as important, and in the future will be even more important, than the platform itself.”
McSally said she realizes the spending caps mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act put the Air Force in a bind and forces it to make unpalatable decisions.
“I know sequestration has put all the services in a very very difficult situation in the choices you’ve all laid out. I totally get that,” said McSally, an Air Force veteran and former A-10 squadron commander.
She urged the Air Force to consider the pilots, who have been trained to fly the F-15C, and who may react by voting with their feet.
“If we are talking about units that are shifting from F-15C to F-16, you now have a bunch of pilots who are qualified and capable on an airplane, and we are already in a readiness crisis, and if you are not retraining everybody to another aircraft, that does have a bit of a short term dip in readiness as well,” McSally said.
The consideration of retiring the F-15C does not include the F-15E Strike Eagle, a two-seat version of the plane that has an air-to-ground mission.
