Two decades of decay

The Air Force begins its sixth decade in circumstances that aviators elsewhere might consider enviable: unrivaled for global air dominance. But that is not the way Air Force leaders view their situation. They see a decrepit air fleet in which the average aircraft is older than the average Navy warship and which is rapidly approaching a breaking point as a result of continuous use in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Every category of airframe operating in Iraq and Afghanistan is suffering from metal fatigue, corrosion, parts obsolescence and other age-related maladies that diminish readiness and raise safety concerns. And yet, timely replacement is not assured.

How did the air fleet fall into such a state of disrepair that only 60 percent of the planes could be airborne quickly in a national emergency?

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The problem, it seems, is that at precisely the moment when fleet modernization became urgent, a new crop of policymakers appeared who didn't share Air Force views about the future of warfare.

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For example, an unnoticed structural defect in the 500 KC-135 tankers that comprise 90 percent of the aerial refueling fleet could preclude Air Force and Navy aircraft from supporting U.S troops in remote locations.

After 20 years of depressed investment, Air Force leaders aren't optimistic about finding all the money they need to keep necessary modernization efforts on track.

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If legislators insist on retaining aircraft past their prime or buying replacement aircraft inefficiently, the day is not far off when the decline of American air power will have fatal consequences for the men and women who fight America's wars.

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